


Seeing A Different Side: Reject Cast

by Dakota_Finely



Category: N/A - Fandom
Genre: Bullying, Canon LGBTQ Character, Character(s) of Color, Fight Scenes, Gen, High School, My First AO3 Post, Not a fanfic, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Other, POV Female Character, POV Original Character, Teen Angst, Teenagers, canon lgbtq characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 32,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23588992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dakota_Finely/pseuds/Dakota_Finely
Summary: Rebecca Youngblood: The third most popular girl in school.The Rejects: the outcasts, the bullied, the weirdoes. The unnecessary addition in Rebecca's school.What happens when Rebecca doesn't have a choice, but to hang out with the Rejects?Will she learn their secrets? Will she realize there's more to the story than anyone realizes?Will she want to stay?
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter One: What Are Rejects?

**Author's Note:**

> This is NOT fanfic. this is my own original work that does not belong to any fandom or anyone else. So, if you came here for some reason for fanfic things, then I suggest you bail, now. Also, I don't really know how to operate this website, so if you got any advice for me, bring it in.

It always starts with some stupid rumor. Well, for beautiful people like me it does anyway. It always seems like the same rumor, you’ve been caught hanging out with a reject.

“What’s a Reject?” one might ask. Well, if you did ask that you’re quiet stupid, or you’ve been living under a rock your whole life. I think it’s best if I explain from the beginning if you're either one of those.

See, in every school, there are three cliques, groups, whatever you prefer to call them. There’s popular, social butterflies, and nerds. Now, this is in basic terms, each group essentially has intermingled people. Like popular nerds or social butterfly popular. But we’re not getting into that.

You see, there’s one group in my high school that just… breaks all-natural law and order. Which are rejects, each of them did some weird thing that just doesn’t inherently fit in with one group, or even an intermingled group. So everyone did the logical thing. Kicked them out of all the groups like the freaky outcasts they are.

Since you seem more like some who’s been under a rock your whole life. I’ll give you a bit of advice. Never, and I mean Never, hang out with a reject. Doesn’t matter if you do it inside of the school, or outside. It’ll ruin your whole life. Like this one girl, Chrissy I think was her name, was one of the most popular girls in school. But someone said she hung out with a reject one weekend and she became the lowest nerd in the history of ever. And that’s only because my friends and I had some mercy on her.

Who...who am I? Jeez, you are a loser. I’m Rebecca Youngblood, the third most popular girl in Banyan Tree Highschool. You should have been able to tell just by my fiery red hair that’s always in place, beautiful freckles obviously from an angel, and bright forest eyes.

You might be wondering why I’m even talking about those freakshows. Well, some idiot started a rumor that I hung out with the leader of the rejects. Some dolt air-headed girl named Lemao. She’s the first-ever reject, rumors say at least. The thing is, I’ve never even seen this girl before. I only ever hang out with my best friends. Jessica Ronald, the most popular girl after Chrissy went down, and Peggy Schuyler, the second most popular girl in school.

I mean there are a few others obviously. Kurt and Ram, Dave, Jenny, Donna, Christy, Mary, Tiana, and many others. But Jessica and Peggy have been with me ever since middle school.

In fact, we’re talking about this stupid rumor after school. We’re best friends, so they know I’d never stoop so low in my life. We’re definitely going to clear up this stupid drama. Nothing would ever come between us.

\--

I stood by Peggy’s car, scrolling through Instagram. Kids passing by, a few giving me short goodbyes before driving off to wherever.

“Rebecca,” Jessica calls, I look up and smile, to which she doesn’t return the gesture. Peggy is behind her almost glaring at me. Though it didn’t really seem like her heart was in it. But that didn’t matter because Jessica’s glare was full of anger. I shift a bit but attempt to keep my ground.

“Hey Jessica,” I greet expecting Peggy to unlock the car for us to go in. Instead, Jessica flips her dirty blond hair.

“I’m honestly surprised Rebecca,” Jessica tells me, I tilt my head in confusion “and very disappointed in you.” she shakes her head as to emphasis her point. I cross my arms and shrink in a bit on myself a bit. Feeling like I was actually guilty of something.

“Why?” I ask, for a moment I think Peggy flinched, but I couldn’t really tell as Jessica towered over me. Despite me being the taller between us. Peggy began to fiddle with her dark curls as the parking lot emptied to only teachers driving away. Students passing to walk home. I began to realize this was an interrogation instead of a talk.

“I thought we agreed about rejects.”

“We do Jessica, why would you think we didn’t?”

Jessica snaps her fingers and Peggy pulls a photo from her yellow purse. She basically shoved it in my face. I jump a bit at the action before focusing on the picture. It was me sitting inside some low budget cafe. I wasn’t alone, I was laughing with this girl who was very poorly dressed. Someone I would never associate with honestly. I look at Jessica in more confusion than I was before.

“I don’t understand,” I tell her. Her mouth twitches and Peggy runs a hand through her hair before having to untangle it.

“Of course you don’t, because you don’t see a problem with hanging out with rejects,” Jessica accuses, glaring at me even more, if possible. I straighten up a bit in shock.

“What? Jessica, you should know me by now. You’d know I’d never hang out with those weirdos,” I replied defensively. Jessica just scoffs in disgust.

“Peggy you know what I hate worse than rejects?” Jessica turns a bit to get Peggy's attention. Jessica scowls a bit and Peggy unlocks the car “Liars, have fun with those rejects. Because now you are one.” Jessica shoved me from the car. Opening the passenger door.

“Oh, just so you know, everyone already agreed, you better fit with those freaks than with us. In case you thought that someone else would help you.” She hopped in the car. Driving off as a burning sensation filled my chest. I began walking, hand over my mouth as I hold back what feels like throw up but inside my head. I cross the street when I hear someone.

“Uh, hello? Are you okay? Do I need to call someone?”

I look over to see a guy with a thick brown beard. Wearing a horrible looking sweater with a unicorn throwing up on it, and dark shorts. I attempt to compose myself but it seems to make all these feelings worse. So I tell the stranger the truth, by shaking my head.

“Uh, no to which of those questions?” he asked still confused, one hand in front of me, and the other behind.

“The… the first one. I’m just going through… well through a bit of a hard time.” I manage to say. Holding back painfully hot tears. He easily takes notice and lightly patted my back.

“Wanna get some ice cream and talk about it?” he offers, I shrug a bit. He huffs a bit, muttering something under his breath.

“Hey, uh, knock knock?”

I stare at him confused, he gives a crooked smile. I sigh a bit “Who’s there?” I ask.

“Cow.”

“Cow who?” I ask genuinely, unsure of what he was attempting to do. He points finger guns at me and smiles like an idiot.

“Jokes on you! Cows go moo!” he tells me. I couldn’t stop a smile at the stupidity of the joke and he smiles a bit proudly. “Alright, at least let me walk with you. I don’t think you really need to walk alone,” he tells me. I sigh a bit, I didn’t really want to be alone either.

“I’m Rebecca.” I continue walking, he quickly follows to pace with me. He grins like an idiot as if this were some sort of victory.

“I’m Cory.”


	2. Chapter Two: Meet The Rejects

_ How could they? How could they go behind my back like that? Why didn’t they confront me about it and talk about it to my face? _

Those questions had been haunting me all weekend. Which caused a raid of the fridge as well as angry pacing of what I would say to them. But each one of them blocked me, unfriended me on every social media account I had. Which ignited my temper even more.

Cory, the boy who walked me home. Well, I stopped him three blocks before we got to my street, in case he was just one of those creepy stalkers types. However, he seemed to turn around, like his home was the complete opposite of my way. And I hadn’t seen him lurking around since Friday so I suppose it was just the kindness in his heart. Anyways, apparently, we go to the same school. Which is shocking seeing as I’m sure I’d have seen him around? He’s definitely some social butterfly. 

I sort of ranted the entire walk once I felt I could. To which Cory told me to meet him and his friends in the Library. Which I found odd, as far as I was aware no one entered the Library. Well, I suppose me and my “friends” never did because as far as we cared. The Library was for people who were too stupid to Google anything. 

\--

My mom quickly kisses my forehead, grabbing her purse with haste.

“Have a good day!” She cheers as the door opens to let her out. 

“You too!” I respond seconds before the doors close me inside the house. I sigh and finish up my mascara. Trying to breathe out the heaviness inside my chest. I wore what I always wear. My green snowflake leggings, a beautiful green skirt with a black strip. My black tank top with a green crop top. Grabbing my bracelets I stop and look at the light blue and pink friendship bracelets Peggy made for the three of us. I slowly put them back down and put on my other two bracelets. Rubbing my now naked feeling wrist. I sigh and grab my black purse. Big enough to carry some notebooks and a pencil case but not big enough to look like a “mom bag”. I strap on my mini boots and step outside.

“Time to go to hell,” I mutter as I walk towards the sidewalk. Making my way towards the school on foot. Regretting the choice of high heeled boots. It was too late to turn back now. 

_ Next time, sneakers _ I thought as I waited for the light to change and let me pass. 

\--

When I enter the school, only the sound of my heels clicking on the tile was heard. Everyone’s voices hushed, their stares trying to pressure me into a breakdown. I simply ignore them to the best of my ability and make my way to the library. 

_ Chest out  _ I thought  _ Walk like your on a tightrope _ I take a small breath. Remembering what Jessica told me when we first became friends. It was easier than focusing on the stares and whispers of people around me. 

I get closer to the library and the hall it was in was empty. Probably because the Dean’s office was right across from it. I walk into the library and tilt my head as I stare at a girl with her head in a book.

I curiously make my way over  _ Why do you look familiar?  _ I thought. Trying to place her face with a name or a memory. She had dark brown hair in a ponytail, that didn’t stop it from frizzing out.  _ Use some product girl _ I thought with an eyebrow raised. Her skin was a light tan. Her face had freckles going across it, in an adorable way like how they do in movies. She wore a black jacket with the words fighter on the side of it. Unzipped to show a baggy purple shirt resting on her noticeable stomach.  _ Jeez, someone needs a diet _ I thought as she flipped a page, clearly wrapped up in her book. 

I take a moment to look around, the rest of the library was completely empty aside from the librarian shelving in the fiction section. 

_ Please don’t tell me this is a friend of Cory’s _ I thought with a small whine. I take another glance around the baren library as if someone else would magically appear. I hear a throat clear. I look to the girl, who was staring at me. Curiosity and skepticism on her raised an eyebrow. 

“You seem a bit… lost. Can I help you?” The girl asks me, closing her book with a small paper as her bookmark. I shrug, “I don’t know, I’m just looking for this kid named Cory. He said I could find him here.” I state, crossing my arms in hopes to pose confidence. The girl seemed to light up a bit when I mentioned Cory.

“Oh, well I’m a friend of his. You can sit with me until he gets here.” she offers, a kind smile on her face. I scrunch my face in noticeable disgust out of habit. She takes notice instantly.

“Or… not, doesn’t matter to me.” She comments with a bit of snark. Returning to her book. She mumbled to herself. I look at her up and down and scoff slightly.

“I’m sorry, but should I maybe know you?” she asked looking back at me “I mean, I’m sure Cory would tell me if he was bringing someone to the library,” she adds with a hiss.

“Um, even if he didn’t invite me. You should still know me.” I state agitated now. Her eyes go from scrunched annoyance to relaxed amusement and I freeze for a second. An eyebrow raised as a small smirk danced on her face. 

“Really now? And if I don’t?” She asks leaning back on her chair. Book once again closed she looked at me for a response. I scoff a laugh and roll my eyes “Well, what rock do you live under girl?” I ask with a flick of my hand to dismiss the thought of someone not knowing me.

“Well, hate to break to ya princess. But I haven’t a clue who you are.” 

I look at her in disbelief, she responds by leaning on the desk with a bored look.

“I’m Rebecca Youngblood, the third most popular girl in this school,” I state crossing my arms. Her face flickers to a confused one, looking at me up and down.

“Well, I’m Lemao.” She tells me before slowly returning to her book. My blood runs cold at the realization.  _ Of course, that’s where I recognized her from  _ I thought  _ that stupid photo _ . I sigh  _ And of course, Cory would be a reject too _ I thought. Mentally I throw my arms up in frustration, but instead, I stay still. Lemao glances back at me.

A goofy smile that resembled Cory’s spread across her face “This is usually when they run.” she tells me. A small hint of impressed almost unnoticeable in her voice. Now, I plopped myself next to her as if to prove a point. 

“Well, I’m not like most people,” I tell her, she eyes me up and down. An amused smile traces her lips as an eyebrow raises itself “I see that Twilight™.” 

My face scrunches into confusion, a hand on my heart as if that would stop how offended I felt. I glare at her “And what’s that supposed to mean?” I ask with a slight hiss. She covers her face with her jacket sleeve that was much too long for her. In fact, all she wore was just completely oversized for her. Which was odd considering she wasn’t close to the description of petite. 

All she does in response to my question is glance down at the book she found much more interesting than me. When we meet eyes she just smiles. A smile I can only describe as a Mona Lisa smile. Because I couldn’t read what it was supposed to mean. Before either of us dared to speak, another voice does.

“Lemao! Hey, who’s that!?”

I turned around to see a boy. Tall, with messy, seemingly unbrushed, blonde hair. He wore a black hoodie with Deadpools symbol on it, basketball shorts, and glasses. He was extremely thin, almost like he was only bone. He sits across from me, taking a closer seat to Lemao as if he was attempting to protect her.

“Heya Ethan!” She chirped the Mona Lisa smile ever-present. She gestures to me “This is Rebecca, an apparent ‘cool kid’.” Lemao states, using air quotes around cool kid. I huff, crossing my arms in annoyance.

“I  _ am _ a cool kid. The third coolest girl in school.” I brag. Ethan snorts, holding back a laugh. Lemao leans over and whispers something in his ear. His smile drops, looking at her with confusion and disbelief.

“You’re kidding me.” 

She shakes her head in response. Ethan pinches the bridge of his nose, moving his glasses a bit in the process. He mutters something to himself before sighing.

“How much did he promise to pay you?”

“I’m sorry what?” I ask in confusion. Lemao lights up in realization and swatts Ethan's arms. I stared at the two of them completely confused.

“Ethan!” she scolds “That’s rude!”

“Oh come on! How else would he get her here?” 

“That’s so low of you! I can’t believe you’d think Cory would pay for a-”

“Hey, guys! You won’t believe what I heard!” A new voice emerges from the door, with an exciting rush. Stopping the two’s bickering, I turn to the voice along with the other two “I heard there’s a new reject! Named Rebecca! At least I think!”

The voice belonged to a short, fat, boy. His hair a light brown, unlike Ethan and Lemao it seemed brushed. He wore a polo and khaki shorts. Thin framed glasses for some reason just brought out the childish nature he had. He wore a  _ large _ bookbag, and a lunch box hanging from his side. It almost looked like he was trying to adventure somewhere.

He stops a few feet from the table, looking at like he just realized I was there. “Who’s this?” he asks with the tilt of his head. 

“This is Rebecca,” Lemao says warily. All eyes on me, I shift a bit at the uncomfortable stares.

“Oh! Nice to meet ya!” Isaac chirps, putting a hand out to shake. I look at his hand skeptically than up at him. He shrinks in on himself, his arm slinking into his pocket. An awkward silence quickly swarming us.

The bell rings and unanimously we all get up. The three high five and give small goodbyes. As I leave Lemao grabs my shoulder “See ya at lunch Rebecca, welcome to the rejects.” with that, she disappeared into the crowd.

I huff and shove my way through the crowd, ignoring the whispers and sly comments around me. Focusing on arriving to class on time, or at all in the hell storm of students who seemed fixated on trying to stop me, or trip me, or take my things. My blood boiled as I shoved people away and snatched back my items. Snickers from my anger only seemed to fuel my pace as I made my way to English.

Ms. Gardener, the teacher seemed to be the only one willing to greet me with a smile. For once, something I was grateful for. 

“Morning Rebecca!” She chirped holding the door open for students to flood in. I give a small smile and nod in response. Making my way to my seat. Sighing in relief as I drop my bag next to me and plop down. Resting on my hand waiting for class to start. When I overhear people next to me.

“Can you believe it? She's with the rejects.”

“Omg, no way!”

“Well, she obviously thinks their better company than we are.”

“Ugh, I feel bad for her old friends for putting up with her so long.”

I shift in my seat. Sending a quick glare to the kid sitting backward in his seat. Quickly making an end to their conversation as the bell rings. For once, making me glad to hear the blaring noise. 

_ They’re wrong _ I thought  _ this is all wrong, I don’t deserve to be a reject _ my fists clenched so hard they left crest moons on my palms.  _ I’ll clear this up _ I thought as Ms. Gardener began taking roll call. 

_ They’ll realize they were all wrong _


	3. Chapter Three: So… Change of Plans

I sigh as the bell  _ finally  _ rings for lunch. Getting up and quietly waiting for everyone else to leave. 

Lunch is mostly separated by the sophomores and freshmen having the first lunch. Labeled as “blue lunch”. And the juniors and seniors having the second. Labeled as “red lunch”. Except for those who are either in ISS or have special classes because ...of special mental or physical conditions. They have “white lunch” which is a thirty-minute period between “red lunch” and “blue lunch”. 

I do my best to blend in with the crowd. So no one would attempt to steal my things like this morning. I cringe into myself when I feel someone close up on me.

“Shh, don’t panic. Just keep walking.”

It was Kurt, the wide receiver for our football team. Ram, our quarterback, was his best friend. And a known bully of the rejects. I look at my feet, my green heels even more of a curse restricting how quick I could move away from him. People let us through without question. Kurt walks hasty but tries to keep at my pace. 

“Relax, I’m just here to help the best I can.” He whispered as we took turns closer to the commons. I just shuffle in silence, unsure how to speak to him now. Especially since he should hate me like the rest of our friends. “When we enter the commons I have to leave you. Stick close to Lemao and her friends. They're the only ones who’ll stick up for you.” he tells me, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. He stops us just before the commons entrance from here. 

“Look, I know you didn’t hang out with them. But when Jessica and Peggy say that, no one is willing to question it. So trust me on this, Lemao and her friends will help prove you innocent if you want.” 

He looked into my eyes so sincerely I couldn’t find any words. I just, slowly nod so he understands I heard him. We face forward again and go our separate ways. 

I spot Cory and the others chilling by one of the pillars. Walking over I notice another guy walk over and join them. He was black and had large afro hair, wearing a white t-shirt that read ‘Just do it’ and jean shorts. He was heavily built, not fat but not entirely fit either.

Cory sees me as I make my way over. He shoots me a goofy smile and a wink. I roll my eyes in response, a small smile forming on my lips. The black boy chuckles, having seen what he did. This gets the other three’s attention. 

Lemao sends me that Mona Lisa smile. Ethan gives me a look that I can only describe as distrustful. Isaac waves at me almost like an excited puppy. It’s then when I hear the nasty whispers of people around us. Like they nothing better to do but to watch my life. I hold back a groan and give a small smile to the entire group.

“Rebecca, this is Dajuan.” she gestures to the one with the afro. He smiles and puts a hand out for me to shake. All the whispers dim. I see Lemao look around and roll her eyes. Ethan stands closer to her as if to protect her. Isaac just looks at me with a hopeful smile. 

I couldn’t help but smile back. Something about that little interaction, with no words spoken or deep thought needed. Kurt’s words quietly chanting in my head. Isaac made me feel welcome, and forget we were begin stared at by practically everyone in the school. At least in our grade. I give a tiny sigh and shake Dajuans’ hand. 

“Nice to meet ya,” Dajuan says barely above the gasps and screams of surprise around us. “Welcome to the rejects,” he smiles and we part hands. We collectively get in line and people leave it in response. Or retaliation, I see some people shake their heads in disappointment at me. 

The smell of burnt barbecue and chicken feel my sense way to quickly as we walk through the line. I hold back a gag, I hadn’t been in this line since freshman year. I forgot to pack a lunch this morning, now I regret it. 

I watch as Isaac grabs a tray despite having a lunchbox. Before I can ask, Lemao seems to read my mind.

“Isaac has a medical thing, he has to eat throughout the day because of an acid problem. I think that’s what he told us at least.” She says grabbing a chicken parmesan bowl. I mimic her, unsure of what else to grab. 

We get through the line, Lemao and Ethan grabbing plastic forks, Lemao handing me one as we walk out the Cafeteria. The others throwing their tray away except for the main dish. I copy them and we head to the safety of the library. I barely keep my lunch off me as people had an insistent need to trip me. 

When we walk in I hear Lemao basically groan in annoyance.

“What do you want?” She whines as if exasperated beyond belief. I look in and I catch my breath. It hurts and makes me feel a bit dizzy.

It was Jessica and Peggy, sitting on the table.

“Get off the table, no one wants to be reading and smelling your butt okay?” Lemao states lightly shoving them off the table.

“Oh please, we don’t smell Lemao. Unlike you.” Jessica retorts in disgust. Lemao grips her jacket. 

“Why are you here?” she asked annoyance lanced into the air. The two in unison cross their arms.    
  
“Well, Mis. Fit-”   
  
“Oof, like I haven’t heard that before.”   
  
“We’re here to check on our favorite group of people. Right, Peggy?” Jessica says faking her joy by hopping from one foot to another while clasping her hands together. Peggy nods and puts her hands on her face as if she was fangirling “Yeah, they’re the best!” she says sarcasm dripping off every word.   
  
“Aww, touched, right here,” Lemao says lightly tapping where her heart is, her voice dripping with just as much sarcasm. If not, it was much more.

“Aw devil child, don’t be like that,” Jessica says pinching Lemao’s cheek as if she’s a little child. I could hear the smirk in Lemao’s voice as she replied “I didn’t think you started doing it that young. But it really doesn’t surprise me, Jessica.”

I hear the boys in unison snort and I hold back a small smile myself. It felt nice seeing someone who would actually stand against Jessica. Instead of several yes men who would jump off a cliff for her approval. 

Jessica tsks and looks at me. I visibly gulp and instantly shrink on myself. Knowing I was her new target of torture.

“Are you fitting in well Rebecca?” she asked sweetly, way too sweetly. I didn’t know how to respond, I couldn’t talk to them. Stuttering noises filtered out of me before I eventually find the floor more interesting than talking.   
  
“Leave her alone.” I look up to see Isaac standing in front of me. Peggy walked up to him “Lemao, tell your dog to move.” she snarled looking directly at him.   
  
“Hey-” 

Lemao motioned for the guys to stop, who were all going to move and defend Isaac. Jessica smirked “You trained them well.” she commented, Lemao just glared at her “Isaac move.” she stated.   
  
“But Lemao-”   
  
“Isaac. Please, move.”   
  
He sighed but moved out of Peggy's way, walking over to the others. 

“Now that’s a good little doggy,” Jessica smirked moving over to me. Even though Peggy and I were the same height, taller than most girls by a few inches. Jessica made her presence like a giant over me. I hunch in on myself even more. Glancing at Lemao and them as a cry for help. They just watched it.   
  
“Well Clifford, are you enjoying the freaks?” Jessica said with a snarl in her voice, I opened my mouth but no words seemed to come out. Peggy snickers at my reaction.

“Come on soul stealer, how is it being rejected from the world?” Peggy growls at me with a sickening grin.   
  
“Alright you had your fun, now leave,” Lemao steps between us. Moving me closer to the boys who swarmed around me as if that would protect me from their comments. I fiddle with my hair as Clifford racks around my mind. 

“Your amazing, they’re just jealous,” Isaac whispers to me, an innocent smile on his face. I smile and look to the floor.

“Now why should I listen to you?” Jessica sneered 

“After all, you broke our deal,” Peggy added crossing her arms.

Lemao looks between the two of them confused “What are you talking about?” she asks with slight exasperation. I look at the guys who all seem more confused than Lemao. It was small comfort to know I wasn’t the only one who felt lost.

Jessica points to me, Lemao looks over and seems to hold back something I was afraid to think of. 

“What does she have to do with this?” she asked looking back at them.

“This you idiot!” Peggy says practically shoving the polaroid picture in her face, Lemao moved Peggy’s hand from her face “That’s not me.” she states simply. Jessica rolls her eyes “What? Did someone photoshop a polaroid of you two? Please, be more realistic Lemao.” she says with a flip of her hair.  “I’m not stupid like you Jessica,” Lemao says “of course it’s not photoshopped. But I know that’s not me, and I’m guessing it’s not Rebecca either.” she says glancing at me with a look I couldn’t read. 

“She wouldn’t dare be with someone who looks like me.” she said crossing her arms “It is, however, likely that there are people who look similar to both of us,” she says with a shrug. Jessica and Peggy look at each other as Lemao grabs me from the comfort of the boys. She pushes me towards them.   


“Have her, it’s a mistake you two idiots would make.” she said “Now get out.” she points to the door. Jessica and Peggy shrug, satisfied by this, and begin walking, before exiting they look back at me.   
  
“You coming girl?” Peggy asks as if they hadn’t just been bullying me five seconds ago. I look at Lemao and them, they all walk toward the fiction section, lunches finished and in the trash. Isaac looks back at me, our eyes meet and he smiles, a small wave of goodbye before turning away. I look back at Jessica as a thousand thoughts flood my brain.   


Split between cheers of joy.

_ They want me back! I knew they cared! I knew we’re best friends! I missed them! _

And realizations of despair.

_ They don’t care about you, but about your social status. They discarded you the moment they saw something they didn’t like. They left you to rot. Lemao and those boys cared more about you only having known you for 0.5 seconds. Jessica and Peggy knew you for years and just didn't have a second thought about throwing you to the dogs.  _

I look back and see Isaac watching as if he was waiting for something. This catches the attention of everyone expect Lemao, who was lost in the books around her. Kurt’s words ring in my ears like wedding bells. Loud, obnoxious, and for once I didn’t mind this noise. Because something whispered inside me.

_ They don’t care, as you're yourself. They’ll be beside you.  _

I turn back at Jessica and Peggy and smile “Yeah,” I state “so head back before they find out you’ve been hanging with a reject.” I turn around and begin walking over to the others. Isaac cheers, running over and pulling me into a bear hug. Ethan laughs at his reaction along with Cory. As Isaac lets me go Dajuan pats my back “Welcome to the rejects.” he says.   
  
“Finally a hot girl,” Ethan whispered, making Lemao smack him on the shoulder a smile present on her face. Cory clears his throat “He’s not wrong though-” he says through his ‘coughing fit’ and Lemao smacks his shoulder as well. The bell rings, we all say our goodbyes. I head to class, feeling like air, I could simply fly. The smile on my face refusing to disappear.


	4. Chapter Four: History Has Its Eyes...

School ends with the final bell. I take my time putting my things away as the rest of the class leaves in a hurry. It was a p ro of being a walker, the high heels were the cons. I throw my black purse on my shoulder and walk out to be greeted by someone I hadn’t seen in a while.

Chrissy Shoreman. The used-to-be popular girl.

Pink and purple hair stuck out from under her black beanie. She had beautiful dark tan skin, wearing killer eyeliner and dark purple lip gloss. The peace earrings she wore matched the gray one hanging gracefully on her chest. She wore a black tank top with a see-through light, really light, purple crop top. Wearing baggy short the same color. Combat boots, and black cat knee-high socks. Her book bag hung off the side of her arm as she readjusted her jacket, black with a light purple outline.

She smiled at me, one of the few smiles I had really seen today. I smile back.

“Hey, Rebecca, right?” 

“Yeah, Chrissy? I didn’t recognize you for a second there.” I respond as the hallway empties. She grins “Yeah, I wanted a new look. You like?” she does a twirl, I giggle and nod.

“So, I heard you’re in it with the rejects now,” she says as we begin walking. I nod, unsure of how else to respond.

“Well, here.” She moves her book bag to rest on her stomach quickly, unzipping it to hand me something. A small black book, a strap to keep it closed, papers purposely made to look old. I look at Chrissy confused.

“I found it in Christy’s bag while back. It was weird, the only thing that made sense was the word Rejects on the first page.” Chrissy tells me throwing her book bag onto her back once again. Christy, for those who don’t know. It is not only one of the popular girls she’s also Chrissy’s cousin. I fiddle with the book a little “I figured she might have some dark scheme with it, however, I feel like I can never find the rejects to give it to them.” Chrissy explains. 

I nod, parting ways as we exit through the front doors, I walk to the gates.

“Ah!” A voice exclaims, surprising me.

I jump five feet in the air as Cory smiles at me relieved “I was beginning to think I missed you!” he says. I place a hand on my heart and give a soft sigh. 

“Well, obviously you didn’t,” I respond as we walk down the street. He nods, lightly nudging me “So what’s up?” he asks. 

“The sky.” I retort with a grin of my own. It takes him a moment before he playfully frowns “Har har, you know what I meant.” he tells me. I shrug “Maybe, maybe not.” I wink at him and he laughs. 

We walk further down in peaceful silence, the only noise being the occasional car quietly driving by. I realize we might be coming to our crossroads any second, looking at the book in my hands I turn to him.

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about this would you?” I ask gesturing the book to him. He looks at it for a moment before shaking his head.

“Did Lemao tell you to read it or something?”

“No, I just found it laying around, figured I’d ask if you’d seen it before.” I lie a bit. I didn’t want him to freak out and if he found out Christy had something about the rejects. That and I didn’t think he’d believe me. He shrugs.

“Nope, sorry.”

He says stopping at a light.

“This, my friend, is where we part ways. See ya.” Cory waves as he crosses the street. I wave back before cracking the book open.

Finding odd crypt symbols and letters put together to make no sense. I sigh and close the book. Frustration quietly festering inside me as the walkway light appears on the other side of the street.

“So much for this beginning easy,” I mutter, walking towards my neighborhood.


	5. Chapter Five: One Month Free!

It was basically perfect timing when I saw Cory crossing the street at the same time as me. Granted it took me longer than normal since I was still in a tired daze. That black book with still no answers. I looked for cryptic codes and found nothing that matched the ones in the book. 

But that didn’t matter to me this morning. Why Cory looked so happy and relaxed threw me. Don’t get me wrong, Cory - from what I’ve seen - is a naturally cheery guy. But this morning had a different energy. 

“What’s got you up and moving?” I ask, his peaceful smile a bit contagious. He looked at me, and as cliche, as it sounds, his eyes twinkled with happiness only found in lovers. 

“Dreama,” he said, almost floating at just the name. I raise an eyebrow, head tilting reflexively “Who’s Dreama?” I ask. Surely, I would’ve seen or heard of this girl right? Someone a reject was close to would’ve certainly been news, was she another reject?

“My girlfriend.” if he could soar from the statement, I’m sure he would’ve.

“Is she another reject?”

He laughs, but not like Jessica. Not cruel or like I’m a child asking where mermaids live. No, he laughs giddily, like a secret between best friends. An inside joke. He shakes his head.

“God no, we were dating before I was labeled a reject. We just don’t hang around in popular places together. Or at school.” He tells me as we enter the doors of the school. I then realize how quickly time flew. Then Cory changes, he becomes quiet, his smile nothing more than a memory. He places a few feet between us but I still hear the whispers.

“Oh god, she walks to school with  _ them _ .” 

Disgusted noises fill the silence and I realize how dangerous it would be if people knew Cory was dating someone. How dangerous it is just for  _ me _ . This time heels don’t click with my walk. Sneakers silently let me pass by, but their stares ever lingered. I try my best to move to the library as if I could outrun their stares or whispers. I walk into the library and the atmosphere relieves it’s pressure as I hear.

“Dude, you are such a nerd! You get, like, all good grades!” Lemao says as Ethan shakes his head “I’m a geek, nerds like school and I certainly don’t!” he responds. Cory sighed and put his phone away. I hold back a beaming smile and sit down with Cory as the two argue. 

“Cory, tell him he’s a nerd, not a geek!” Lemao complains though you could see the smile creeping up on her face. I roll my eyes a little, the twos banter reminding me of a rom-com. Ethan playfully glares at her “No, I’m not!” he responds, his smile unable to hide. Cory rolls his eyes and Lemao pulls out a book, opening it up. Ethan fakes a cough “Nerd.” he says and Lemao rolls her eyes “Whatever, nerd.” she responds not glancing up “I’m a geek!” he practically shouts. Cory face palms and groans. I just give a small giggle at the banter.

“Well, no one’s dead. Maybe that’s a good sign.”

Isaac and Dajuan walk in, taking their seats “Heya guys!” Lemao chirps like a bird happy with its food. I smile at that, not noticing everyone converging to Lemao’s side of the table until it was too late. Lemao’s chirpy smile was replaced by the Mona-Lisa one. And just like that, it didn’t feel so sunshiny anymore. 

“So Rebecca,” Lemao says pulling out a piece of paper, she glances back at me before her eyes return to the paper “why’d you choose us over being popular?” she asked looking up at me with a squint. Arms crossing. I was taken aback by the question, not sure why. I should’ve expected it. But I didn’t have an answer, a small bit of stuttering came out of me.

“I...well ya know...I mean… I…” I shut my mouth with no words to speak. I fiddle with my hands a bit, trying to collect the thoughts I had. My conclusion being a shrug “I… don’t know.” I state. Looking up for the expected judgmental stare. Instead to find curiosity lanced deeply into Lemao’s eyes. Bouncing between mine as if to figure me out. 

She hums thoughtfully and slides me the paper face down. I hesitantly grab it, slightly afraid that I’d be left again. This time through some sort of rejection letter.

“You still have the chance to go back. To act like this mishap never happened,” Ethan shrugs, I nod slightly. Confused.

“Once you choose to join-”

“ _ If _ you choose to join us,” Lemao cuts off Isaac, shooting him a glance as if to warn him of his hope. She shrugs, Mona-Lisa smile relaxing a bit “then I guess there’s no going back.” she tells me. I nod a bit, reading the paper.

**_Rebecca Youngblood,_ **

**** **_You’re obviously in some phase right now. That’s fine, it happens. Once you burn yourself out. Come back to us, you have a month to deal with these… freaks. Before you “officially” join their group of creeps and losers. Our doors are always open, for the month._ **

“Wait, this is Peggy's writing.”

My mind flashes to middle school, notes with gossip and rumors make me shudder a small bit. They were mean, and I let them be. Lemao nods “Yeah, it was the only agreement we could come to last night.” she states with tired air. Ethan groans “There was  _ a lot _ of arguing.” he rubs his temples at the memories. 

“I kinda  _ already _ made my decision though.” agitation seeps through my voice gracefully. As if I was trying to dance my words onto their ears so they’d listen. Lemao nods, shrugging a bit “Now you’ve got an excuse to back out of it my guy.” she leans into her chair. I crumpled the paper as if I was trying to make a statement.

“And then what? I make it through the month and get some paper for friendship?”

The question itself was rhetorical. The kind you ask when you know the answer. But when all the guys looked to Lemao, who pretended like she was trying to not be guilty of a crime. The more the question seemed like a real question. A bubble of laughter escaped me, and the rest of it sort of followed smoothly.

“Oh my god!” I snort between fits of laughter “You actually planned to do that!?” I was surprised. The boys sort of snicker at my response as Lemao turns red.

“I got bored okay!?” she states, crossing her arms defensively. Like an adorable bird puffing up to seem intimidating. This makes me laugh harder, maybe a bit too hard as I grip my side in pain. 

Our laughter dies down as a question enters my mind. Clearer than a day, and before I can think it over, it pops out of me.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you guys were meeting up last night?” I asked, tilting my head a little. Lemao shrugs slightly “Well it was kinda last minute. Ethan and Isaac were the only ones nearby when it happened.” she explains.

“I was just there for help on homework,” Isaac states with a small shrug. His naive smile sparked a bit as he was included a bit more in the conversation.

“I was there to copy the homework.” Ethan states as Lemao rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face. We then mess around until the bell rings. Like we’ve been friends for years, and it didn’t feel so pressured to interact with them.

“See ya later nerds!” Cory says walking along with Isaac to their next class, assuming they had it together.

“Bye!” Isaac waves.

“Survive my small humans!”

“Lemao...we’re all taller than you,” Dajuan states with a crooked smile.

“Hush smol hooman!!”

“See y'all at lunch!” Ethan states disappearing into the crowd.

I chuckle as we head our separate ways, dodging some trippers and people trying to knock me over. Successfully making it to class without falling over. Relaxing my shoulders with a sigh and getting ready for the class as the bell rings once more.

Classes fly by surprising well, instead of dragging out like they typically do. Work was done in what felt like seconds, and notes were taken down that I kinda don’t remember doing. Next thing I know, it’s lunch. 

As I rush to meet up with the others I see them talking amongst themselves, hunched together like a football team making the game plan. I walk over and tap on Cory’s shoulder. Everyone sort of hushed each other and looked at me, looked back at each other, and nod. Before I can say anything they start heading into the lunch line. I quickly follow.

“Hey, Lemao?” I ask, she hums in response “What were you guys talking about?” I ask, she waves me off “Nothing super important. Are you free this Saturday?” she asked in response.

I felt the response “no” come to my lips. Since I was always invited to parties and sleepovers. I never really had an open weekend. The realization that most of those parties I attended because Jessica said I didn’t have a choice hit me like a brick wall. And so did the relief that I wouldn’t attend another one of those parties that hit me harder than a truck on the freeway.

“Yeah, I am free,” I state confidently. She smiles “Good, here-” she says handing me a small piece of paper “meet up at my house.” she says as we grab trays. I looked at the address and it surprised me.

Lemao didn’t live that far from me. It would be a long walk, but I expected her to live farther. Like barely within the school’s radius. Just enough that if she moved down a house, she’d have a new school. 

Instead, she was only a few streets away from my neighborhood.


	6. Chapter Six: My Dirty Little Secret

Saturday comes like a wave at the beach. Cold and yet refreshing. Slipping into skinny jeans, sneakers, and a comfortable green shirt. Having no idea what time I was supposed to arrive, I took the time to work on that book Chrissy gave me. This time it was just annoyingly flipping through the pages. Accidentally skipping multiple to see something written normally on the back.

_ To flip the curse, use the alphabet reverse. _

_ To decipher the minors, use a freemason cipher. _

Written in beautiful cursive, instead of plain text like the rest of the coded book. But it wasn’t Christy’s handwriting, she couldn’t write in cursive. I wasn’t sure about Chrissy, but it could also be one of the rejects. Since that letter wasn’t in Lemao’s handwriting I wouldn’t know. Same with the guys. I huff, every time I get further. I still have more questions without answers.

I look at the time, surprised at how early it was. Only ten thirty, I guess I used to late nights. I must’ve crashed instead of staying up. I stretch and grab my phone, plugging in the address Lemao gave me. 

Her neighborhood was surprisingly small, tucked between Carriage Hills and Carriage Hills Apartments. White picket fences were the only thing that made it stand out. The entrance was graced with two signs on both sides.  _ New Port Place _ was written in fancy lettering with a green font slightly faded. 

All the houses were the same, a dark green roof and door with white walls and two windows. All the houses connected.

“You have reached your destination,” Google tells me, ending it’s map coordinates.

“Wait no, which house is it?” I ask knowing I wouldn’t get a response. I look around in confusion. Before I could decide which side to go to I was tackled unexpectedly, I yelped almost falling over as I grabbed onto the arm around me.

“Hey Rebecca!” the person chirps, I turn my head to see Isaac smiling at me. I could swear there were stars at the center of his eyes. He lets go of me. “You looking for Lemao’s house?” he asks, I nod. He leads me to the house and knocks. A young boy answers.

The kid resembled Lemao in many ways, the same hair color, skin tone, chubbiness. He looks at me for a moment before turning around and shouting.

“Lemao! Your nerd boys are here!”

Lemao peers around a corner and brightens up “Hey guys!” she says walking over to us. She gestures to the boy “This is Jamin,” she says as he puts an elbow on her shoulder “my younger brother.” she says glaring at him playfully. She shakes him off her shoulder and steps out of the house. The two make faces before Jamin closes the door on us. 

“Come on, we’re heading to Dajuan’s house. It’s more confusing to use the GPS in his neighborhood,” she said and began walking out of the neighborhood. As we follow I see Ethan and Cory waiting at the entrance. I squint at them and purse my lips.

“You all planned this didn’t you?” I ask, Lemao shrugs “Basically my dude.” she said as we walked out of the neighborhood and down the street.

As we arrive at Dajuan’s house, we get to the door and Lemao pulls out a keychain with five keys on it. She uses one to open the door, my face scrunches slightly as my eyebrows furrowed together in confusion “What…” I trail off pointing at her as she opens the door.

“It’s best not to question Lemao,” Cory says with a shrug before heading inside, I hesitate, shaking my head before entering, closing the door behind me. When we enter we walk down a hallway with three places to go, the kitchen, the living room straight ahead, and a small closet. Lemao leads us up a staircase to a hallway with four other doors, two on one side, one on the other, and one at the very end. Lemao walks up to one of the doors (on the side that has two if you're wondering) and knocks lightly.

“Hey Dajuan, it’s me Lemao,” she says slightly rocking on her feet.

“Is it just you?” Dajuan asks through the door, why would he be hiding from us? Is something wrong? I tilt my head and my eyebrows scrunch in concern.

“No, the others are here too, remember your promise?” Lemao reminds him, I look at them all confused. What promise could they be talking about? Dajuan doesn’t respond for a moment, as if he’s pondering his choices.

“Is… is Rebecca with you?” he asks, his voice almost unhearable through the door. If you weren’t trying to hear him, you wouldn’t have. Lemao becomes noticeably tense, she glances at me, but before she has a chance to speak, Ethan speaks for her.

“No,” he says, crossing his arms, Dajuan opens the door just a crack. He glances around the room, eyes quickly landing on me before glaring at Ethan. 

“Liar,” he states, closing the door once more. Ethan throws his hands up, obviously confused and frustrated. “Come on! It’ll be fine!” he says exasperatedly. Dajuan peaks his head out, putting a finger to his chin and looking up, pretending to think “Hm...no.” he states closing the door once more.

“Okay, everyone! I need you to move out of the way.” Isaac says rolling up his sleeve, I move but watch him closely. An eyebrow raised, I purse my lips, instinctively crossing my arms.

“Isaac,” Cory says in a voice of warning “What are you doing?” he asks, Isaac responds by ramming into the door. He bounces off it slightly, stumbling around a bit.

“Isaac!” Lemao scolds “No, bad potato!” she says grabbing his shoulders and moving him to the side. He shrugs and smiles at me, I smile and roll my eyes.

“Dajuan, come on. We talked about this, you promised.” Lemao says leaning on the door slightly. Curiosity shot through my body as I asked “What promise?” looking at them confused, feeling as if I missed something important.

“Sometime, months ago, we all promised that the next reject that came along is when we would reveal why we became rejects. Dajuan promised us Tuesday he’d go first.” Cory explains with a shrug, I nod slightly.

“Please?” Lemao nagged, Dajuan sighs loud enough to be heard through the door. An oddly agonizing silence fills the room. Despite only lasting a second, it felt a bit more like hours passed by.

“Sometimes I swear you’re lucky we’re friends,” he says opening the door all the way, at first I didn’t understand why he was so hesitant. That’s when I realized.

Dajuan was wearing a dress.

It was a black dress with a dark red floral design that came to his knees. He also wore three-inch high heels that were all black with a dark red tint to them. Lemao squeaks “Aww, I remember this dress!” she said “It’s from when we first met!” she says placing a hand on her heart. Touched by the memory. She gestures to the shoes.

“Those are new though.” she says and Dajuan nods, excitement lights him up like a puppy “Yeah I got them Monday! I’ve been waiting to try them on forever.” he states looking at them. Showing them off slightly, with a cautious nervousness only spoken through silence. But I hadn’t really noticed.

“Well, I think they look stellar with that dress. I'd gone with something of lighter color to compliment your skin, like a nice navy blue or forest green.” I comment “Though I do think the splash of red with it makes the outfit really nice on you.” I state studying his outfit, thinking of the many combinations that would look good on him. 

It takes a moment to realize everyone’s staring at me as if I’d grown an extra head, I pursue my lips and look around a little “What?” I asked, shaking my head a little. Lemao smiles all Mona-Lisa like, mumbling something under her breath before shaking her head.

“It’s just, uh, I didn’t expect that from you.” Lemao says surprise clear on her face “Since, well, Peggy and Jessica were totally against anything that wasn’t of the norm.” she said, a moment of grimace across her face before she lights up. Another squeak from her “But I’m glad someone agrees with me!” she says joyfully.

I shrug, smiling along with her “Well yeah, personally I think the look suits you Dajuan,” I look at him and he smiles looking down at the floor stepping back slightly “especially if you enjoy wearing it.” Lemao smirks and nudges him “Told you they’d like it.” she stage-whispers to Dajuan. He rolls his eyes, a smile still present.

Ethan shakes his head, a bit confused 

“Wait so you knew this whole time?” Cory asks, staring at Lemao as though she leaped through time. I hold back a laugh at his expression

Lemao shrugs a little “It’s kinda how we met,” she says, “it was at… JCPenney’s right?” she asked Dajuan. He nodded slowly, recalling the memory.

Eventually, Dajuan lets us into his room. After talking for about an hour in the hallway he realized some of us, Isaac, might be more comfortable sitting. 

Baby blue colored the walls. His bed was a twin with darker blue bed sheets. A desk was across the room that held a lamp and a pencil holder. I take his desk chair as Cory and Ethan rush to take the bed, Isaac simply plops on the floor and Lemao and Dajuan are in the closet, looking at dresses.

“So Dajuan, how’d you get into dresses anyway?” Ethan asks, leaning on the backboard of Dajuan’s bed. 

Dajuan shrugs, “It was originally a dare,” he says, Lemao pretending to twirl with one “I realized how much I liked wearing the dress. I started buying some.” he scratches his face a bit and continues to shuffle through dresses. 

I glance at the desk and see scattered papers with designs of dresses. I shuffle through them, interest in the designs, and color choices. “Hey, do you design your own dresses?” I ask looking back at Dajuan, he walks over and shakes his head 

“No, those are Lemao’s designs,” he says picking up one himself. 

Lemao looks over at the sound of her name, eyes wide. She pulls her sleeves down and walks over “I left them here?” she asked, looking over Dajuan’s shoulder. She mumbles something picking up the designs. 

“So, you make dresses?” Ethan asks his face slightly with noticeable confusion. Lemao shakes her head “No, I design them on paper. But I don’t know how to sew. Mckenna’s learning though, I might ask her to design some of these.” she says. I raise an eyebrow.

“Who’s Mckenna?” I ask Lemao, she opens her mouth to answer but is cut off by Ethan.

“Someone she made up.” He says with a shrug, Lemao glares at him “I did not make her up Ethan.” she quipped before looking at me “Mckenna is my best friend since, basically, birth. She goes to private school though.” she explained to me.

A peaceful silence fell as Dajuan and Lemao continued to shuffle through his dresses. Just then a question popped into my mind, like a buzzing fly that wouldn’t leave despite the swatting.

“I don’t understand.” I muttered looking at the ground in thought “Understand what?” Isaac asks, tilting his head a bit. I huff a little “I don’t understand why Dajuan wearing dresses makes him a reject.” I state with a slight shake of my head as I look at Isaac. Silence falls on the group, I shuffle a little in my seat, uncomfortable inside it. 

Dajuan speaks up “Well, wearing dresses isn’t exactly a “guy” thing to some people,” he says before fiddling with a pencil. As it clicks in my mind an “Oh…” escapes me. Someone, likely Ram since he's unnecessarily nosey, caught wind of Dajuan wearing dresses. So they just kicked him out over something ridiculous: his fashion choice. I shake my head a little in realization.

“Well, it shouldn’t matter what they think.” I started looking at him with a smile “You look fabulous.” Dajuan looks at the ground before looking at me with a small smile.

“I ship it.” Lemao coughs while the others snicker. I roll my eyes, a small smile creeping on my face. Before we know it, night comes and we all leave. I plop into my bed, awaiting tomorrow.

I rubbed my shoulder, agitated at the bruise forming on it. The push from students was getting worse by the day. The name-calling seemed to lose its humor by the minute, that is to say, if it had any humor, to begin with. My bookbag slips onto the table. A faded green from the years of use, but it was still strong despite it all. And it fits all the things I needed and a bit more. Like snacks and books. 

Speaking of books, I had grabbed one the last time I entered the library. And now I was at peace. I cracked it open. As I enter the wonderful world of my book I hear someone as they take a seat next to me.

“Wow, someone’s becoming quite the nerd I see.” I look to see Ethan with a smirk on his face, I smile back “Guess you’re rubbing off on me, nerd.” I respond by turning back to my book.

“I’m a geek! Not a nerd!” Ethan says exasperated, flailing his arms as someone laughs.

“Hey, Lemao.” I greet her, she grins at me and takes a seat “Sup, whatcha’ readin’?” she asks, propping her head up. I hold the book up a little “It’s called  _ Unwind  _ by… Neal Shusterman. So far it’s pretty good.” I say Lemao’s eyes light up “Oh my gosh, I finished that book about a week ago, it’s one of my favorites!” she says excitement vibrating off her. I giggle a little at her.

“Are you two talking about books?” we look over to see Cory and Isaac walking over to us “Yes!” Lemao says giddily. Ethan raises an eyebrow at his friend “Why are you in such a good mood?” he asked as Cory and Isaac took their seats. Lemao bit her lip as her giggles escaped her muffled “You’ll see.” she says practically vibrating from excitement.

Everyone sat in peaceful silence, every once in awhile striking up conversations (most involving theories of who put Lemao on drugs) before Dajuan walked in.

“DAJUAN!!” Lemao screeches, teleporting to him and tackling him. Both stumble from the moment, Dajuan barely stopping them from toppling over like building blocks. We all walk over, snickering at the actions. Dajuan sighs in relief as they regain balance “A forewarning next time would be nice.” he says as Lemao lets go. She shrugs “Sorry, not sorry.” she says, it takes me a moment before I realize.

“You’re wearing a skirt.” Isaac points out, pointing to his black skirt, Dajuan nods scratching the back of his head a little “Yeah, Lemao kinda convinced me to.” he says and Lemao just smiles wider “Yas!” she screams putting a fist in the air like a dork. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a few freshmen walk in and immediately notice Dajuan and his skirt. 

Snickers slip out of them like someone put fifty bucks in a vending machine and repeatedly slammed the same button. A couple of them elbowing each other. I hear the librarian, Ms. Addison, clear her throat. Pointing to a small sticker on the desk. I squint a bit and read the big words on it  _ Safe Space _ written boldly as if to stand its ground. That quiets them enough to please her. But they were close enough that their volume didn’t make a difference.

“Oh my god, look at him.”

“What a freak!”

“What kinda man wears a skirt?”

“A gay man.”

The four burst out laughing as if it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. I flare up in anger if my hair would fluff up like a cat I’m sure it would’ve. I go to move toward them, but Lemao stops me. Flashing me that Mona Lisa smiles before walking childishly over to the group of freshmen.

She looks down and fiddles with her hands before looking back up. The boys seemed a bit entranced by the innocence, so their laughter dies down. 

“Um, hi,” she said shyly, glancing at us, the kids look at one another “Oh, uh, sup.” one of them says after getting elbowed by another. She fiddles with her hands some more, I hear the guys snickering behind me “I, uh, saw you were laughing. What’s, um, what’s so funny?” she asked rocking on her feet. The guy scoffs “The fag wearing a skirt obviously.” he said crossing his arms and smirking at us. I furrowed my eyebrows as I felt my face reddened along with my anger.

“Ah, I thought so. Just had to confirm it.” she said, dropping the act, the group of children looks at her in confusion “Confirm what-” the guy was cut off by his own grunt as he bent over grabbing his crotch. One helped his friend from falling over while the other looks at her as if she was deranged.

“Why’d you do that!?”

“Well he deserved it, he made fun of my friend. I don’t like that, buh-bye now.” Lemao responds before walking over to us. 

The boys, by now, were howling with laughter and trying not to fall over, one leaning on me for support. She grins at us and I couldn’t help but smile back. Cory high fives her “Oh my god! That was so priceless!” he says in his laughter the others high five her. 

“You freaks won’t get away with this!” we look over to see them leaving, still supporting the one Lemao kicked. Lemao flicked her wrist “And you aren’t having kids, your point?” she asks rhetorically, one growls as they exit. Isaac gives Lemao a half hug, she put her hands up slightly defensive.

“That was hilarious!” Ethan laughed gripping his side “How hard did you kick him, girl?” Dajuan asks through his snickers. Lemao simply shrugs, just smiling.

As we went through the day it seemed word got around about what happened to the group of freshmen. As no one dared to crack a joke about Dajuan’s skirt, that didn’t stop the disgusted stares, however. But Dajuan didn’t seem to notice them, so the rest of us ignored it and let the day sail by.


	7. Chapter Seven: Isaac’s Lonely Road

I yawn and stretch a little, praying that Thursday would end already. The bell rings and everyone quickly floods out, ready for lunch. I quickly meet up with the others and we get lunch. As we make our way to the library a question that's been bugging me for a while, enters my mind.

“So, who’s going next?” I ask as we take our seats, they all give me confused stares before Lemao lights up realization “You mean as to why we’re rejects?” she asks, I nod in response and in unison, the boys go “Ohhh…” in realization. Lemao pulls out a little green notebook, flipping through to a page.

“It’s Dajuan, Isaac, Cory, Ethan, then me.” Lemao reads, Isaac jumps a little “Me!?” he asks, pointing to himself. Lemao nods, closing the book. Isaac huffs, I raise an eyebrow as he drags his hands down his face before sighing as if he made up his mind. Though I don’t think he had a choice.

“Ok fine, but when I say stay outside. I mean stay outside, understand?” Isaac instructs we all glance at each other before nodding in agreement. The school became a blur as curiosity nagged me.

I waited for Cory outside the gate, as we were going to walk to Isaac’s house together when I remembered the black book Chrissy gave me. I pulled it out of my bookbag, shuffling through a few pages. I had looked up alphabet reverse and Freemason cipher a little while ago. To which I found where the cryptic text was from. I don’t know why I opened the book as if I could now read it because I knew it’s coding. But instead, I just glared at it like it murdered my dog.

“You’re obsessed with that book aren’t you?” Cory asked, I jump and slap the book close. I look at him surprised before sighing “You tryna give me a heart attack?” I retort, he laughs a little, shaking his head. I pick up my book bag and we start walking “You didn’t answer my question, what’s with your obsession with that book?” Cory asks, I shrug.

“I don’t know… are you sure you don’t know anything about this book?” I ask lifting the book up before lightly tapping it on my other hand. He shakes his head “Sorry, Rebecca. I feel  _ tearable _ not being able to help you.” he said grinning at me, I playfully glared at him, trying to keep the smile off my face. I shake my head “You’re horrible.” I say with a small laugh.

“No, I’m Cory.” He retorts, I roll my eyes, my smile growing.

“You mean  _ Corny _ ?” I ask finger gunning him. He snorts and shakes his head “My God, that was such a Lemao move.” he states, laughter slipping out of him like bubbles.

With that, we walk.

We are the last to arrive outside of Isaac’s house. He lived in a well-kept neighborhood - which surprised me since he took such horrible care of himself - and his house, from the outside at least, looked spectacular. From the thousands of pots and plants, it was clear someone had a passion for gardening. Lemao knocked on the door as I and Cory walked up to the porch. A loud barking from inside the house started, Isaac opened the door a bit to see us. 

“Hey, guys! I uh, I need to- stay here for a sec.” he said before closing the door again. Within seconds he came back out, opening the door to let us in “Okay, they’re up. Sorry about that, Ash gets a little playful when he hears people. But, uh, welcome to my house.” Isaac says as we look around.

There were so many fish tanks. When you walk in you’re met by a fish tank, a large one that seemed to stand out. On the right was just a room of fish, I looked at all the colorful fish inside the tanks.

“Yeah, my dad really likes fish,” Isaac says as we look around, mouths agape in awe. Lemao looks around excitedly “Does your dad, by some chance, have Betta fish??” Lemao asks, looking at the tanks closely. Isaac shakes his head “No, but, uh, my cousin has three.” he says, pointing to the door, where three fishbowls sat. Two of them were your normal, every day, fishbowls. But the one in between them was cast with a log, a beautiful sight if you ask me.

“Ok, enough with the fish guys. Let’s head to my room.” Isaac says, gesturing us to follow “Aww, but the Betta fish!” Lemao whines, admiring the tanks, giving one last glance before following the rest of us. We enter a narrow hallway that leads to three rooms. He takes us to the one on the right.

His room was cluttered with things, yet had some sort of weird, messy, organization to it. It looked like he lived in his room as there was a T.V. that faced his bed, a tablet on his bed along with his 3DS. He took a seat on his bed along with Ethan and Cory, as the rest of us found clear places to sit Isaac rambles.

“Well, I’ve never told anyone why I was a reject. Not even Lemao, I had just asked her if we could hang out, she said sure, and then I just joined the rejects.” He says as we get comfortable, we look at him expectantly and he sighs.

“So, I guess the secrets are out then.” He gives a smile and thumbs up before sighing once more. As if to brace himself. 

“Ok, so I’m a reject because, well, I sorta have always been a hermit.” Isaac chuckles, referencing to the fish tanks from earlier, I smile and roll my eyes at his joke. 

“Other than my parents tell me to go make friends. I was always “different” than everyone else, I was too shy to talk to anyone for a while. I am also a complete nerd who stays in their room twenty-four seven and, well, I stay on my devices all the time.” Suddenly a small noise came from his tablet. Lemao quickly grabs the tablet and turns it on before Isaac can react.

“It says Snow Kitty has texted you,” she says reading the notification aloud, Isaac turns red a little, looking around his room “Aw! Whose Snow Kitty!?” she squeaks, gushing over the nickname. Isaac sighs a little “One, it’s not nice to go through other people’s stuff,” Isaac says, Lemao just shrugs smiling goofily “two, if you really want to know. You have to promise that this stays in this room. If...if my family ever found what I’ve been hiding…” he trails and the room goes into an eerie silence.

“Oh, the faith you have in us to keep a secret!” Lemao jokes trying to lighten his mood, posing for effect, he chuckles a little at her.

“Sorry, see this is why I’m a reject. I hide secrets and I don’t want to tell others what I’ve been hiding.” Isaac says a bit exasperated before sighs and shakes his head “Snow Kitty is, well, he’s my…” Isaac mumbled something. We all lean in closer “Can you say that again?” Dajuan asks, Isaac purses his lips, fiddling with his fingers “Snow Kitty’s my...boyfriend.” he says a little louder.

“That’s so cute!” Lemao squeals, hugging him. Isaac puts his face in his hands, groaning a little in embarrassment. Ethan shrugs a bit “I mean, we all kinda figured as much.” he says waving his hand a bit, Cory nods in agreement.

“Ok fine! I’m bi! Is there something wrong with that!?” Isaac exclaims, covering his mouth in case someone overheard us.

“What’s bi?” Cory whispers to me. Confusion written across his face. Everyone was still watching, as though we expected someone to burst through the door at any second. It felt like we were a pack of animals, expecting prey to come out of the bushes. Too afraid to run, but unsure of facing the danger in front of us.

“Bisexual, he’s attracted to both men and women,” I whisper back. Cory slowly nods in acknowledgment. Still looking a bit confused, but rolling with whatever he’s got. 

Isaac’s gulp was like a pen drop in silence. But it partially eased a little of the tension in the room. We all relax, coming back to some reality that Isaac’s parents would  _ not _ bust down the door at the scream of confession by Isaac.

“Dude, we knew kinda the whole time. No one really cares who you're dating, I mean, I wear a dress after all!” Dajuan assures, slightly hushed. We all murmured an agreement. As Isaac nods, still passing worried glances to the wall.

“Sorry guys, this is why I’m a reject. I can’t trust people, after all, I’ve been through… it’s just, this isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve had such… horrible experiences in love, but I’m going to make this one work! If not… well, I might not be at school.” Isaac rambles, his eyes glued to the wall, his words a whisper you almost couldn’t hear.

“Okay,” Lemao says popping her fingers “that’s the second time you’ve said why you’re a reject. Second, it doesn’t matter about your past, but about your future. Third, now I’ll be scared every time you're not at school.” Lemao says gasping a little as she didn’t pause to actually breathe.

“That was a lot.” Dajuan mumbles, Isaac shrugs “Well, now you know my story so, um, whatcha’ guys wanna do?” Isaac asks. Lemao checks her phone before standing up, stretching a little “Sorry but I gotta go, don’t want my mom to kill me. I’ll see you nerds tomorrow.” she says, we all wave as Ethan follows her “She’s my ride, peace.” he says before closing the door behind her. The four of us sit in silence.

“Wanna play word association?” Dajuan asks, shrugging a little.

“Dajuan, next time you ask to do that I’m shaving your head. I’m a video game nerd about action, not finding out what infinitesimal means.” Isaac says as we head out the door.

“Not your cuppa tea, m’kay,” Dajuan says before waving and leaving. I’m about to do the same.

“Hey, Rebecca?” Isaac calls, I turn around “Yeah?” I respond tilting my head a little. He takes a breath. A breeze to whisk away summer and bring in autumn fills the second of silence between us.

“We might be weird, but we’re family in this group. Don’t think you have to be fake around us, I’m happy to call you my friend.” Isaac says with a small smile on his face, I smile back and nod. He closes the door and I continue walking home. I hug myself, a weird warm feeling entering me, unable to stop smiling.


	8. Chapter Eight: Nowhere Near Deadline

Late within the night, I had an idea. Grabbing a dark green notebook I broke it open and began transferring whatever text was inside the mysterious notebook. 

Which is why I woke up groggy, sprawled across my desk. Sitting up to hear my back pop, I got up and stretched. Turning my alarm off and got ready for school. Doing a quick, and kind of lazy, half-bun. I slip into one of my few green sweaters, and loose jeans with a nice flower print. I do my typical skincare routine and apply eyeliner and lip gloss. Slipping on my sneakers and book bag I head out the door. 

My thoughts flow wildly and without much keeping them consistent. Until I pass by a bakery and see myself in the reflection. I partially freeze.

_ Popular kids and rejects are so different. _

What could you mean by that?

I shake my head, continuing to walk, but that doesn’t stop my thoughts from explaining themselves.

_ I mean look, Jessica and her crew have always judged you. From when they first meet you and you said you didn’t know the point of having lip gloss and lipstick. To now of believing a rumor instead of you. Popular kids have only ever cared about your looks and who you know. But rejects only cared about what you  _ do _. They are blunt with their opinions on things and just aren’t fake with you. I never noticed how fake I acted until I hung out with them, Yet people make fun of them, mock them, and make them seem as if they are just bugs. Like, ugh, cockroaches, _

Ew.

I shiver a bit at the thought of cockroaches. Moving my mind far away from that comparison as physically possible.

_ You’re telling me, anyways. But they never were such a thing. They’re there for each other, they always have been. They have more decency than any popular kid at my school. _

“Hey!”

Cory broke me from my thoughts quite abruptly. I smile and wave at him. 

“Lemao messaged me, saying to hurry up and bring you.” He tells me as I see the school no longer so far away. I raise an eyebrow “How come?” I ask him. He shrugs, clearly as confused as I was. Curious silence overtakes us before I have a small realization.

“Wait, I thought Lemao didn’t have a phone?”

“She does, what made you think she didn’t?”

“She never gave me her number.”

“Oh, she uses messenger most of the time, she doesn’t like giving away her number.”

“Like…  _ Facebook _ messenger?” I shove my hands into my pockets, leaning toward him to make sure I was right. He nods, almost solemnly.

“I know it’s weird, but she doesn’t have that much social media. So, like a mom, she uses Facebook.”

“I guess it makes sense,” I say with a small sigh. No _ popular kid I’ve ever known uses that app  _ I thought logically. As we approach the blue doors I see Isaac hanging in the lobby. Perking up as soon as he sees us. 

We walk over to him and I quickly notice something.

“Are you, are you drinking ketchup?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him, gesturing to the little packet hanging from his mouth. He grins “Well, have you read my shirt?” he retorts, gesturing to his shirt which read “I Put Ketchup On My Ketchup” I chuckle a little.

“That’s not all that important, come, guys, let's go,” Cory states, gently pushing us to the library. We move quietly, I watch as the boys have glared. As if they were expecting some sort of animal to pounce.

“Do you think she’ll go back?” I hear someone stage whisper.

Someone else points to me “I heard she only stuck with them for their secrets.” their friend lightly gasps.

“Oh my god, I feel so bad she had to put up with them for so long,” they state, holding their book closer to their chest. I roll my eyes and hear Isaac huff like a bull that saw red.

“OK!? WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING A REJECT HUH!? AT LEAST WE DON’T TREAT EACH OTHER LIKE PAWNS OF A CHESS GAME!!” Isaac screeches at them, making everyone around us jump and glare at him. Though, I suppose they were already doing that. Huffing afterward and dusting himself off as we walk into the library. We enter and walk over to our friends.

“Isaac, you should really stop listening to them,” Lemao says without looking up from her book,  _ Could he really be heard from here? _ I was surprised. Isaac sighs and looks at the floor like a guilty child “Sorry Lemao.” he mumbled. She shrugs, looking up and closing her book “It’s okay, I would’ve done the same, to be honest.” she says with a smile. Getting up and clapping her hands together and rubbing them.

“Now, unto business,” she says walking over to-

“Jessica? And Peggy?” I ask as they hunch over a table, reading something. I walked over, my fist clenched and my eyebrows furrowed. I tap on their shoulders “I thought you said I had a month.” I whisper snarl at them, not that I would’ve gone back, but still. Both of them look at me in disgust.

“What happened to you!?” Peggy asks horrified at my outfit, I look around for a second, confused. 

“What?” I ask. Peggy grips my shoulders intensely. 

“Why aren’t you wearing a dress?” Jessica asks.

“What happened to your face!?” Peggy practically wails. 

I look over to Lemao “Is there something on my face?” I am concerned and confused. A moment that I might have smudged something crossing my mind. She simply shakes her head, confusion across her face just like mine. Peggy lets me go and power walks over to Lemao.

“What have you done to her!?” she asks accusingly, Lemao shrugs, glancing at me. 

“I don’t remember doing anything,” she said, taking a step back from Peggy as the guys stand close to her defensively. I huff in annoyance. 

“So, why are you guys here again?” I ask boredly, checking my nails, Jessica snaps her fingers and Peggy walks back over. Still glaring at Lemao as she did.

“To make your decision looks like we came just in time too you look so...ugh,” Jessica states, I look at my hands self-consciously. 

Lemao steps up “She still has like, what? Two weeks.” she says, Ethan nods. Jessica rolls her eyes. 

“You don’t actually want to spend two more weeks with these...freaks, do you?” she asks, Peggy points at one of them “Seriously, one of the losers is wearing a skirt,” she says in pure disgust. I nod slowly, composing myself. 

“Yes, then you’ll have my official decision. Unless you’re too impatient for that?” I ask rhetorically. Jessica glares at Lemao.

“Can you take your pets outside for a moment, I want to talk to Rebecca alone for a moment.” She sneers before any of them protest Lemao puts her hand up to silence them. They walk away glaring, leaving us alone. As the door closes behind them, I tensely turn back around to Jessica and Peggy.

“What is up with you,” Jessica asks looking at me in angry confusion “why would you want to be with them?” my eyebrows furrow and I look her dead in the eyes with a passion I didn’t know I had.

“Oh I don’t know, maybe it could be because they actually give a  _ damn _ about me. Instead of about what stupid clothes I wear,  _ Jessica _ .” I growl at them. They both looked at me shocked, even offended, unable to reply. I smirk a little, satisfied I could make them speechless for once. I turn my heel with the giddy feeling inside me.

“Now, if you don’t mind I have some  _ real _ friends to hang out with. Buh-bye now.” I sass, waving at them a small bit. Walking away and leaving them in the library. A small cheer dance inside of my head as do, feeling prouder than a Karen at her son’s soccer game.

I see Cory and Isaac pacing the floor as Lemao and Ethan lean against the walls. Lemao flashes me that Mona Lisa smile and I was unsure of what she was trying to tell me. 

“What was that about?” Cory asks upon seeing me, Isaac, and him stopping in their tracks. I wave it off “Nothing important.” I state before looking around curiously noticing quite quickly a missing person. 

“Hey, where’s Dajuan?” I ask, a scream answered.


	9. Chapter Nine: Even Angels Get Demons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the chapter title is bad, but I couldn't think of a better one.

We all rush over to the source, the male bathroom. Cory looks to me and Lemao, the only girls in our group.

“Just, stay here alright? We’ll be fine.” He assures before rushing in moments after Ethan and Isaac. I gulp and Lemao begins pacing in front of me. I hear snickers around us.

“What is the line too long?”

Lemao glares at them. But has too much of a babyface that isn’t intimidating in the slightest without the boy’s help. Luckily the group moves on, as the bell rings to cause people to rush around us. Emptying the hallway within seconds besides students who wanted to skip and are finding hiding places. 

I nervously fiddled with my sleeves, before feeling an iron grip on my arm. I look at Lemao and before I can ask. 

“Just, just go with it,” she whispers looking at the entrance. Seemingly like a little child waiting for their parents. I slip her hand into mine, squeezing it reassuringly. Waiting for them to come out.

After what feels like an eternity, the boys come out. Lemao rushes over, I gasp as she studies their injuries. Dajuan was leaning on Isaac, both having cuts and noticeable bruises. Isaac’s glasses were cracked, sitting on his face crookedly. Cory had a black eye and was keeping his arm close to his chest, limping a little. Ethan’s glasses had completely disappeared, he kept wiping the blood from his nose, wiping them on his pants. They all were black and blue everywhere as far as I could tell. I finally unfreeze from shock.

“What happened?” I ask taking Dajuan from Isaac as Lemao held Cory. Surprise surprise, some of the football team, at least five, had been harassing Dajuan. When Dajuan finally retaliated, they ganged up on him completely. I hear Lemao give a surprisingly low growl. 

“Little pricks.” she snarls “Come on, we gotta take you, idiots, to the nurse,” she grumbles. We all start walking, no one dares to mess with us. Either because they thought we were super tough or had pity on us for once. I wasn’t sure.

We enter the nurse's office, I hear the nurse groan “Oh jeez, again?” she says. My eyes widen as I set Dajuan on the bench. 

“Again!? What does she mean again!?” I ask looking at Lemao, she shuffles and tosses me a medical tape. 

“I’ll explain another time,” she says getting an ice pack from the fridge and tossing it to Cory “help me patch these idiots up.” I nod slowly and walk over to Isaac. 

Isaac had been bandaging the small cuts on his skin and forehead, I take the bigger cuts, wrapping them up as best as I could. An eerie silence filled the room beside the opening of bandages. I felt a lump in my throat as I bandage one of his arms, I tried to steady my hands but it wasn’t working.

“Hey, hey Rebecca. Hey, it’s okay, don’t cry.” Dajuan says getting up and rubbing my back. I touch my face, I hadn’t realized I was crying. Dajuan takes the bandages from me and continues fixing up Isaac, himself already finished. I wipe my face, making sure to not mess up my make up in the process.

“So, does this happen often?” I ask quietly, holding myself as I shuffled from foot to foot. It was silent for a moment. 

“Uh, yeah it does.” Isaac says not looking up at me “I guess it’s the price for not being wanted.” I see tears crawl down his face. I tilt his chin and take off his glasses “Hey, it’s okay.” I say sitting next to him, rubbing his shoulder. I look over to Lemao, who was handing Ethan an ice pack. The bell rings, but none of us move. I see the nurse starting to write things down.

“What are you hiding?” I look back to see Isaac pushing something back into his book bag. Lemao walks over and pulls it away from him. 

“The murder weapon,” she says pulling out an umbrella. The umbrella was bent out of shape, having some blood on it. 

I put a hand over my mouth “Jesus…” I trail, jaw agape. 

Isaac shrugs “No one messes with my friends, ever.” he says nonchalantly, though you could hear the pride behind his words. I look at Lemao, still in disbelief. 

Ethan yelps “Dude!” he says swatting Cory’s arm away, Cory shrugs.

“Alright, Ethan, Dajuan, and Cory. I have your excuses for class, I just need some more paper for Isaac, and you, Lemao.” The nurse states with a nod, before glancing at me “Oh no, you guys have another one with you?” she asks looking at me distraught. Lemao looks at her and shrugs. 

“Her names Rebecca Youngblood.” Lemao says in an “I’m sorry” like tone. The nurse sighs and grabs another piece of paper.

“Look, Rebecca,” Dajuan says with a sigh “none of the other groups like us.”

“If you couldn’t tell,” Ethan states snarkily, without looking, I could tell he rolled his eyes.

“Sometimes,” Isaac says with a shy shrug “we have to defend ourselves,” he says as nonchalantly as possible, pretending like this was normal. But it wasn’t…

_ “Those losers should just kill themselves!” _

_ “I’d die before I join that freak house.” _

I shake my head, I almost couldn’t believe that was me. It was normal, but it shouldn’t be. No one should ever have to go through this. I shake my head a little “I’m sorry.” I mumbled looking at the floor. Cory scoffs with small confusion balled inside it. 

“Why?” he asks, I think back on what I had said about them. What I had called them, what others must have done to them, myself included. I sigh and shake my head.

“No reason, I’m just sorry,” I say as the nurse hands me a pass. We slowly leave the office, making no real rush to our classes. 

Lemao puts a hand on my shoulder.

“We say things out ignorance sometimes ya know. It’s so easy to play by the rules instead of learning what’s behind them.” Lemao says as we part from the guys. Having classes right next to each other. 

“I think the best way to earn forgiveness for them is to learn and think before we speak.”

Lemao meets my eyes knowingly like she’s heard everything I’ve ever said about her. I nod, gulping down the sobs inside of me. 

Splitting into our separate classes as though nothing happened.


	10. Chapter Ten: Fearful Moments

“Hey, have any of you seen Cory? We usually walk together but I haven’t seen him at all this morning.” Was the first thing that dropped from my lips as I entered the library. The group looks at one another for answers before Lemao shakes her head. 

“I can message him,” Ethan says quickly pulling his phone out to do so.

“I already tried, I even called him!” I state with slight panic. Lemao quickly stands to comfort me.

“Hey now, he could’ve slept in or he’s sick today,” she assures me with a comforting smile.

“Or he could just be choosing to skip today.” Dajuan pipes up.

“He’s a senior, I don’t think he’s going to try anything dumb this year.” Lemao retorts to Dajuan’s comment. Turning to him with a hand on her hip.

“Hey, this is Cory we’re talking about. He’s a goof, not an adult. He would  _ definitely _ do something dumb this year.” Dajuan counterpoints, crossing his arms. Lemao rolls her eyes and we all hear the door open.

Cory walks in. But instead of his usual walk, where he smiles and cracks a joke. He simply walks in without a word and plopped down, putting his head down into his arms. We all glance at each other before looking back at him.

“Oh dear,” Lemao said, taking a seat next to him, “what happened?” she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. He mumbled something incoherently, we glanced at each other once more “Can, can you repeat that?” Lemao asks. Cory sighs, tilting his head to face her. 

“Dreama cheated again,” he says before turning back. I looked at the others confused, as they simply looked at each other worried. 

“Ah jeez…” Dajuan trails.

“Again? What does he mean “again”?” I ask looking at them. They all meekly explain what had happened before. Dreama had lied about being “raped” ~~(which you should never do, that’s not funny or okay. People are told they lie about being raped all the time, it’s very rare that anyone ever lies about it. But it still happens. Rape isn’t cool, or a joke. Don’t rape my dudes.)~~ and then a week later confesses the truth that she wasn’t raped. That same flipping day she had done it with one other dude as well, confessing to that.

“I’m so sorry Cory,” Lemao says patting his back, he just shrugs, a sigh escaping him.

“It’s just,” he sighs tiredly “I don’t want to break up with her. But, I have to, I can’t do this anymore.” he says, distress and distraught in his voice. Ethan gives him a half-hug.

“Hey Cory, one day this will all pass. It’ll get better.” Isaac says sheepishly, a shy smile on his face. Cory shakes his head “It only seems that way.” he mutters, Lemao bites her lip. Obviously holding back the urge to argue with him. Determination shoots through me like a bullet.

“Cory,” I say, everyone looks at me expectantly, curiously “we’re gonna celebrate you being single. Everyone comes over to my house after school.” I demand. They glance at each other confused, but comply, getting my address.

School flies by and the next thing I realize is that I'm walking out the gates of the school. Cory is way ahead of me, hood up. I catch up to him easily and tap his shoulder.

I flinch as I realize he’s about to go in for a punch.

“Oh my god, Rebecca! You do realize some of us are used to fighting in the streets?” He states, anger hidden in the undertones. I fold in on myself guiltily and he softens.

“Sorry,” he sighs “I’ve just had too many surprise punches in my life.” he laughs lifelessly.

“No, I’m sorry. I should’ve spoken up instead.” I respond as we continue walking. An uneasy silence settled between us. But it was because I didn’t really know what to say. Granted, Cory didn’t look like he was too keen on talking. 

“I’ll see you soon,” I tell him as we part ways, he only looks at me and nods. 

_ That was kinda cliche-ie dramatic _

Don’t be rude, he just broke up with his girlfriend

_ Point taken, speaking of which. You need to hurry and set up for his party. People are going to be arriving soon ya know. _

To which, I promptly began speed walking in response. I get home in record time to see my mom, for once, there before me. I say a quick hi before setting up my workspace in the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” she asked, hearing the ruckus I happened to be making, I turned to her quickly. Trying not to waste time. 

“Can you go buy some Pizza Rolls? Two liters of Pepsi and Sprite please?” I asked, grabbing a mixing bowl along with the cake mix and the ingredients I needed. She raises an eyebrow.

My mom is a strawberry blonde with the same forestry eyes like me, but she had no freckles. She was only a couple inches taller than me without heels. She could model in my opinion, but she’s a doctor instead.

“What for?” she asks, grabbing the keys anyways. 

I begin measuring things. Double-check the measurements, “It’s for a party,” I say distractedly “to cheer up a friend.” she sighs.

“Alright, anything else?” she asks before heading out the door. I think for a moment. 

“Some baby carrots, oh and ranch, I think we’re out,” I say before she leaves. I finished prepping the cookie mix I got offline a few days ago. Waiting for my mom to come back. She arrives just as the timer goes off for the cookies. I pull them out and put them on the stove to cool.

“Thanks, mom,” I say, taking the bags from her, she smiles. 

“Of course kiddo! But I gotta know, who’s this for?” she asks as I open up the Pizza Rolls, laying them on some pans. 

I shrug “Just a friend.” I say putting the soda in the fridge along with the carrots and ranch. I put the Pizza Rolls in the oven as she sighs.

“Rebecca,” she says, I look at her as she crosses her arms “is it Jessica or Peggy?” she asks, I freeze before turning around and putting on the timer. 

“Uh, no” I responded, “we aren’t exactly friends anymore…” I trail looking back at her, fiddling with my sleeves. Worry crosses her face.

“What happened?” she asks, I shrug “We... just had a disagreement and found it best to stop being friends,” I say leaning against the counter.  _ It’s not a lie, _ I thought  _ I’m just sparing the details _ . She looks at me for a moment, trying to see if I was lying.

“So, then who is this for?” she asks, gesturing to the oven. Moving on with relief, I smile a little thinking of the guys and Lemao. 

“Some of my friends, one of them is having a bit of a rough time and-” I was cut off by an alarm. Not the timer, my mom checks her phone and sighs. Noticeably tired she rubs her eyes.

“Sorry sweetie, I gotta go. I promised to take Casey’s shift tonight,” she says grabbing her purse and keys. She kissed my forehead “We’ll talk about this again later okay?” she says, I nod smiling. She rushes out the door and I sigh. I pull out the carrots and wash them.

Time flies and I hear a knock on the door, I walk over and open it to see Ethan and Lemao. I smile “Hey guys!” I greet letting them in. They look around in awe.

“I wish my house was this clean,” Lemao muttered, I giggle a little at her comment. I point to the dining room “There are some carrots on the table if you want some. I’ll get the ranch.” I say walking over to the fridge and pulling out the ranch as the two head to the table.

“Who eats carrots?”

“I do!”

I walk over with a couple of bowls to see Lemao munching on a few of the carrots while Ethan looks at her and laughs a little. I set down the ranch and the bowls as some else knock on the doors. I quickly walk over and open up.

“Hey, Rebecca!” Isaac says with a wave “Hey guys!” I say letting Dajuan and Isaac inside. I close the door “Where’s Cory?” I ask, the two shrug as we sit at the table. My phone vibrates.

**Cory: I'm not coming**

My eyebrows furrowed together as I looked at his text.

**You: Y not??**

**Cory: U don’t want me there, I wouldn't want me there**

**You: What do u mean?? Of course, I want u here**

**Cory: No I hurt people I can't do anything right I’m a failure I can't even keep a gf**

**You: Cory ur not a failure & u don’t hurt people plus ur ex gf doesn’t deserve u after what she did**

**Cory: Tell that 2 my dad I am a failure**

**You: No ur not Cory if ur dad tells u that he’s a horrible dad**

“Who ya texting?” I jump at the question, I see everyone staring at me “Oh, uh, Cory.” I say looking down at my phone “Well, where is he?” Ethan asks me. I shrug before my phone vibrates again.

**Cory: I can't go inside**

**You: Y not?**

**Cory: I just can't, open the door**

I get up and go to the door, opening it to see Cory standing far from the door. I look at him confused “Cory?” I ask “Come on in!” I say gesturing for him to come in. He points to the light, I look at it to see a whole bunch of moths flying around it.

“I don’t get it!”

“Turn off the light so they’ll leave!” I huff but turn off the light, the moths disperse and to find another light source. Cory rushes up and I let him in.

“What was that about?” I ask looking at him confused, others walk over, Lemao glances at his arms, to which he covers even more with his jacket sleeves. They share a glance but before I can ask Cory answers my first question.

“It’s the reason I’m a reject.” he says, looking at the floor and crossing his arms, I raise an eyebrow “I don’t get it,” I say. He mumbled something and headed toward the table, we followed him and took our seats. Isaac looks at him curiously. 

“Can you speak up?” he asks. 

Cory huffs “I have a fear of moths.” he mutters a little clearer. We all looked at each other and Ethan snickers a little, Lemao lightly swatted Ethan on the shoulder. He looks at her and she gives him “the look”. She does that a lot I’ve noticed.

“What?”

“That’s rude!”

“Well, it’s a weird thing to fear!”

“I have a fear of heights.”

“Yeah but having a fear of heights is normal,” Ethan says to Isaac with an eye roll “having a fear of moths is weird,” he states, Dajuan sort of nods in agreement.

Lemao glares at the two of them, until the two mumbles an apology. We all sit in awkward silence. Isaac cleared his throat for a moment.

“So,” I pipe up “wanna watch a movie and stuff our faces?” I ask with a small smile.

Ethan and Lemao’s banter of the logic and plot holes in the movies was more entertaining than the movies themselves. The amount of laughter erupting from us made me surprised no one near us complained about the noise.

Eventually, it’s just me, Cory, and Lemao. As they begin to leave Cory turns to me, a small smile on his face.

“Thanks, Rebecca.”

Lemao awkwardly exists between us. As she was holding the door open for Cory and her to leave. She looked between us confused but said nothing.

“For what?” I ask, a small smile on my face.

“For doing this, it’s what I needed,” he says, I smile and hug him before waving goodbye at the two. I close the door smiling wide. 

I finish putting all the dishes away. I turn off most of the main lights and look at the time.

_ It’s only nine, you’ve got at least an hour. _ I thought as I walked into my room, changing into a tank top and shorts. Sitting down at my desk and looking between the black notebook and my green one. I pull out a mechanical pencil and pop my knuckles.

_ Tonight  _ I thought cracking open the black book once again  _ I finally uncoded all of this book _ .


	11. Chapter Eleven: To Be, Or Not To Be?

I woke up with a groan, popping my neck. Tapping the alarm on my phone off I stretch. Slowly but surely getting up from the seat, I choose to hop in the shower and get ready for school. 

Getting out I hear my phone vibrate on the sink. Lighting up.

**_Message From Ethan_ **

I open it up to see an address, receiving no other context. I put my phone down and finish getting dressed. Deciding to ask Cory about it instead of asking Ethan, seeing as he didn’t seem to want to give more context.

I see Cory at the crossroad and waves. Holding up my phone and pointing to it.

“What’d you think Ethan’s message meant?” I ask as we meet up and begin walking together. Cory shrugs “Possibly whatever made him a reject?” he suggests. I nod a bit.

“What do you think his secret is?” I ask

“It’s way too early in the morning to be thinking what Ethan’s secret is. I mean, Dajuan wears dresses and… What was Isaac’s again?” Cory asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Either the fact that no one ever really talked to him. Or the fact he’s bi.” I state, recalling Isaac’s home. But I shrug as we enter the gates of the school.

“Hey!” 

Cory and I look over to Ram driving by us. Some of his jockeys are sitting around. I found it odd that I didn’t see Kurt hanging with them. Seeing as Ram had always had an obvious man-crush on him. Cory glares at them.

“What do you want?”

“I wanted to give Rebecca her proper initiation. Make her feel welcome.” Ram grinned like a madman. I take a few steps away from his car in concern.

“What’s that supposed-”

I’m cut off by my own shriek as I feel a ton of ice-cold Gatorade hit me at once. The liquid burns my eyes as I hiss in pain. Hearing their laughter as Ram drives off. I feel a hand and flinch away.

“Hey now, it’s just me. They didn’t get my eyes this time.” Cory tells me “Come on, I’ll get Lemao to help clean you up.” he holds my arm and gently guides me. It feels like forever, and a thousand stares before I hear Lemao.

“Oh dear, what happened?”

“Gatorade drop.”

“Ah, here Rebecca. Let me get you to the bathroom.”

I feel Cory let me go and Lemao loop her arm with mine. She’s not as gentle, and a bit hastier than Cory. I’ve never felt Lemao’s fear before, but the way she guided me was like an animal of prey. Knowing their traveling past their predators. 

All is quiet as I feel Lemao begin to dab me with paper towels.

“I’m sorry if I mess up your makeup.” is all she says before I feel a wet, cold, paper towel rub my face. Begin extremely gentle around my eyes. I hear a couple of snickers from girls leaving the bathroom before the bell rings. 

“So,” I begin to fill the silence “does this happen often?” I ask.

A long silence filled the room as I heard more water running before a new paper towel covers my face.

“Yeah, it all started after I met Ethan. I guess Ram got tired of waiting to torture me after school so he found a way to torture my friends.” Lemao sighs and I hear heavy footsteps enter the restroom.

“I know I’m not supposed to be here. But I got a text asking for some help.” The voice was male, but I couldn’t place it. I knew it wasn’t one of the guys. But I knew it was a  _ guy _ . Someone familiar on the tip of my tongue.

“Oh thank goodness,” Lemao says. I feel an actual towel touch my face, Lemao drying me off.

“Okay, open your eyes.” I do and see Kurt behind Lemao.

“Kurt?” I am confused. Kurt grins awkwardly and waves. I don’t smile but wave back just as awkwardly. He glances at the floor and Lemao smiles almost as if a laugh could slip out of her at any moment.

“Uh, it’s really just Lemao’s size. But I’m sure that’s fine,” he said, handing me a black shirt. I awkwardly take and walk into a stall. Quietly changing.

“Man, he hasn’t done that in a while.”

“Granted, we’ve been avoiding him pretty well now for a while. Rebecca kinda put our guards down.”

The shirt slips on and I feel like I’m in hammy-down clothing. The front was designed with a grey smiley face emoji. I hold back any cringy sigh and walk out. I walk out holding my soaked shirt away from me as dripped onto the floor. Lemao takes it and throws it into the large sink. Stepping onto the pedal and began squeezing out the sticky Gatorade.

“So, anyone here going to explain why Kurt has your shirt?” I ask, slipping my bookbag back on. Lemao shrugs.

“It’s not really my shirt, Kurt just keeps a few he bought in case of stuff like this. It’s hard to find stuff in my size cause… well.” Lemao turns, gesturing to herself with a smile. A small chuckle out of her before continuing “That and no girl at the school would let me borrow spare clothes, not that those would fit me. But still.”

I tie it up so it’s at my waist. 

“You can keep it if you want, though Lemao never does,” Kurt says to me with a smile. Leaning against the wall like it was normal for him to be in the girl’s bathroom.

“I brought a shirt home one time and my mom thought we were dating and had, as she puts, ‘done it’. You’re crazy if you think I’m gonna keep them like we are.” Lemao begins squeezing the water out of the shirt. Kicking the pedal up so the water would stop running. Kurt sighs, but I’m unsure if he's tired, or disappointed at the statement.

“Alright, well I’d best head out. Already late enough as it is.” Kurt said, giving me a small salute as Lemao states a small goodbye. The bathroom goes into silence, but somehow Lemao made a way of making it comfortable. I lean against the wall as Lemao hangs up the shirt over the top one of the stall doors.

“We can skip first if you feel like it.” Lemao states with a small sigh. I shrug in response. Another silence easing over us. Lemao pulls out her phone, obviously texting someone.

“Who ya texting?”

“Ethan, we have first and SOAR together. Don’t want him to panic ya know?”

Another silence comes between us. Letting some time pass before I feel the shirt. Damper now but still too wet for comfort. 

“Do you really wanna skip first?” I ask boredly. I never thought Lemao was the rebellious type. But if being in the Rejects taught me anything, it’s to not assume who someone is based upon the rumors around them. Lemao lets out a breathless laugh, running a hand through her ponytail.

“No, just the thought puts my stomach in knots. Doing it makes my stomach feel mega weird.” She states “You’d think by now, it wouldn’t. But you’d be wrong.” she shrugs.

Eventually, the first bell rings and I grab the shirt, now just lightly damp I just shove it into my backpack as we head out. We head our separate ways and go through the day normally.

I met up with Cory at the gate. “What do you think his secret is?” Cory asks as we walk past the gate, I shrug. 

“I dunno, poetry? Or theater?” I venture Cory shakes his head with confidence.

“Nah dude, more like he’s secretly in an occult,” he responds. I roll my eyes “Why would he be in an occult?” I ask. Cory shrugs, “I don’t know, it’s Ethan.” he says, I think about it for a moment before nodding in response.

“I’m gonna drop my stuff off before heading to that address,” I say as we approach the four-way. Cory nods in agreement, possibly thinking the same thing. We say a short salutation before heading our separate ways.

I rush under the awning and close my umbrella. Shaking the water off of it I sigh a bit and lookup.

_ So this is the place? _

_ That’s what the address said at least. _

The “Smol Bean” as it was called, was very small and had a young girl holding a coffee bean as its logo. I enter the place to be greeted by the sweet scent of caramel. The place had a few tables and chairs and a place to order drinks or food or both. One of the walls was painted a starry sky, it was so beautiful.

“One of the workers painted it.” I jump and look at Lemao startled, she laughs “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya.” she says. I look back at the wall than at her. 

“How do you know that?” I ask, she shrugs, flashing me that Mona Lisa smiles once more “I know a lot of things,” she says “now, wanna try the lemon bread? It’s really good.” she states. I shrug and continue looking around the place as she goes to order.

The rest of the place had light brown walls with dark green on the frames of doors and windows. This place didn’t even have a bad rep, it was known for some of the best coffee in town. But I never came since Jessica and Peggy hated the place. I take a seat near the starry wall as Lemao walks back over with a couple of paper plates. She hands me one and begins eating hers. I break a piece off and eat it, now fully understanding why most people liked the place. I hum in tasteful content for a moment.

“So, do you know why we’re here?”

“Besides the lemon bread? Just Ethan’s secret I guess.” Lemao answers, taking another bite. I look around the room a little more, enjoying it’s aesthetic “Like how it looks?” Lemao asks. I nod a little “Yeah, I’ve never been before…” I trail “Peggy and Jessica?” Lemao asks, already filling in the blanks, I nod and she sighs.

“No surprise there, they hated places like this before too.”

I look at her with a raised eyebrow “What do you mean before?” I ask, her eyes widen a little before she smiles and waves it off. Before I can pry information out of her the bell dings.

“Hey, guys!” I look over to see Dajuan, Isaac, and Cory walking over to us. I smile and give a small wave “Sup my dudes!” Lemao greets. Isaac hugs us and Cory waves. I look at him “You okay?” I ask, he nods before pointing “Is that lemon bread?” he asks. Lemao nods and gives him half a slice. Isaac laughs a little.

“Ya know you only have to change one letter to change lemon to Lemao,” he says with a snicker, I snicker a little at the irony. We sit and talk for a little until Ethan comes in, walking right by us into another room. We all look at each other before getting up and following him.

The second room was a black and grey aesthetic as the was were painted black as grey and white pictures hung around the room. There were more chairs and tables in this room and a small bookshelf in the corner. It was a surprising change in aesthetics from the room we were previously in. We walked over to the table Ethan was sitting at.

“Uh, care to explain why you just rushed by us?” Lemao asks as we take the seats, he looks at us confused “What?” he asks in disbelief. I nodded “You rushed right past us Ethan.” she states propping her head up with her hand.

“Oh,” Ethan says scratching the back of his head “Sorry, I didn’t see you guys.” he apologizes, we all shrug it off “So,” Cory says “why are we here?” he asks. Isaac points to the notebooks on the table “Why’d you bring notebooks?” he asks.

“You’ll see,” Ethan responds, not elaborating. I purse my lips but don’t pry for information. Eventually, someone walks up to the microphone at the front of the room.

“Hiya everyone! Thanks so much for coming out to poetry night!” they announce, some people snap. Isaac looks at us “Why are they snapping?” he asks in a whisper “It’s called “Coffee Shop”,” Lemao whispers back “it’s the way people clap during poetry.” she explains. Isaac slowly nods and faces towards the front once more.

“Alright, folks! He volunteered to go first tonight! Give it up for Seth Smith!” the announcer exclaimed as someone walked up on stage after they walked off. I look at Ethan “You like poetry?” I whisper, he shrugs eyes never leaving the stage “It’s fun.” he whispers distractedly.

After a few more poets I heard Lemao “You should go up there.” I look back to see her nudging Ethan. He shakes his head “No, I’m not stage-friendly.” he whispers back “I can go up there with you Ethan.” Isaac whispers with a smile, being an adorably friendly smol bean. Ethan shakes his head once more “No.” he states bluntly.

After a few more poets they talk a small break, I turn to Ethan “So, this is why?” I ask “You like poetry, it’s nothing weird.” I say as Cory and Lemao get up, saying something about getting some drinks for everyone. Ethan shrugs “High school guys don’t think like you Rebecca.” he says as Isaac nods in agreement along with Dajuan “Most guys find anything feminine degrading or gay.” Dajuan says.

“Wait,” I say, faking shock “you mean you’re not?” I ask dorkily, they all playfully glare at me. Ethan shrugs “Well, Isaac is.” he says and Isaac nods in agreement. Cory and Lemao come back with plates and cups.

“Hope Y'all like hot chocolate and lemon bread!” She says as she and Cory pass them out. We all happily take them and spend the night looking at Ethan’s poetry and having fun.

“Dude! I’m taking the last one!”

“Should we just rock paper scissors?”

“Mmm, nah one of us could cheat.”

Lemao slips me half of the last lemon bread as the boys continue to argue. I look at her and she winks. I roll my eyes but eat the other half anyway. Cory notices this and they all playfully glare at us. Lemao sticks her tongue at them. I roll my eyes at their childishness. Lemao raised her cup up in the air “To be or not to be, that is the question!” she said, glancing at me, I look at her in confusion but the others chuckle and raise their cups and lightly clash them together. That’s when I realized.

_ One week left. _


	12. Chapter Twelve: Shocker

Lemao, knowing the suspense killed us, made us wait. Each day passing by with no answers was driving me crazy. Now, one might think I’d just use that Reject book I found a while ago and find out myself. But no, that book had everyone expect Lemao. It was odd. See the book went like this: 

Cory Robins

Grade: 12th

Original Click(or whatever you call it): Social butterflies

The reason for Rejection:

Meet Lemao in a firefighting class and stuck with her since. It also has Mottephobia, the fear of moths.

Isaac Brant

Grade:(No ones sure, assuming) 11th

Original Click: Nerds

The reason for Rejection:

Was always a reject in a manner, officially reject after joining Lemao. A good old bi boy. Uh, bi means bisexual. Which means he’s attracted to both genders. Just in case you didn’t know.

Dajuan Lee

Grade: 11th

Original Click: Popular

The reason for Rejection:

Wear dresses and skirts, as well as high heels. After being caught hanging out with Lemao at a J.C. Penney. He’s with the rejects for life.

Ethan Green

Grade: 11th

Original Click: Nerds (you're A NERD Ethan! FACE IT!)

The reason for Rejection:

Has a passion for poetry, and was the first to hang out with Lemao. He even writes his own. Though I’m unsure of how good or bad it is. He keeps it close to his chest

The only thing I changed was the grades. They were all originally tenth but I figured it must be a year old because there's a doodle dabbing in it. And dabbing is  _ so _ last year. Now it was Friday, and I still didn’t really have answers. But she was even more jittery today. So it meant something.

I was walking out at the end of the day and I saw her waiting around. I walk over curiously.

“Hey!” I greeted her as I reached her, she jumped in surprise, “I didn’t know you were a car rider.” I say crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow. She smiles and shrugs “I usually don’t, but today is different.” she says. 

“Nothing wrong with changing it up a little right?” she asks, I nod a little.

A boy came up behind her, poking her sides. She jumps and squeals, turning around “Jonathan!” she exclaims smacking his shoulder. He smiles “Heya Lemao.” he says sticking his tongue out at her. The boy was fat, had very wavy brown hair, and was naturally pale especially compared to Lemao’s light tan skin, also being a couple, inches taller than her. With very thick sideburns. Lemao rolls her eyes, still smiling.

“Jonathan, this is Rebecca. Rebecca, this is Jonathan, my brother.” Lemao introduces us, Jonathan flashes me an awkward smile “Nice to meet ya.” he says with a small wave. I wave and smile back, Jonathan lightly nudges her.

“So you do have female friends huh?”

“Fite me, scrub,” she said with a playful grin.

I felt a little jealous, the two seemed so close, and I had always wanted a big brother or little sister. I shake my head a little, push that aside as Lemao looks around.

“Hey, where’s Chris?” she asks, I tilt my head as my eyebrows lace together in confusion “Oh, he went home early today. He says hi though.” Jonathan says with a shrug. Lemao sees my look of confusion “Chris is Jonathan’s boyfriend.” she says and Jonathan looks down with a big smile on his face. I smile wide “Really?” I ask, they both nod, almost in unison. Jonathan then raises his eyebrows as he sees something, poking Lemao’s cheek and pointing “There she is.” he says. She nods, waving at me as they walk away.

“See ya later my dude!”

I smile and wave back before heading toward the gate, where Cory was waiting for me. He sees me and sighs a bit.

“I thought you were kidnapped for a second.”

“Well, I’m awake now.”

He looks at me confused before his eyes light up. He laughs as we begin walking down the street. Just before we head out separate ways he lights up as if he remembered something.

“Wait,” he says pulling out a piece of paper, “Lemao told me to give these out,” he says. I take it with a raised eyebrow. I opened it up, it had an address and a time. I walk home and look up the address. It was the original Baptist hospital, now it was a place for small business. I shiver, it was rumored to be haunted.

I heard the front door open, I rushed out of my room to see my mom.

“Hey, momma!” I said greeting her with a hug, she laughed a little and hugs back “How was school hun?” she asked, putting her stuff on the table, I shrug “It was school, as always.” I say, she nods. 

“How was work?” I ask. She sighs, “It was quite a day.” she states rubbing her temples before looking at me with a smile “But nothing I can’t handle.” she says. I smile back and nod.

I wave bye to my mom as she drives away, I turn around and bump into Isaac.

“Oh! I’m sorry Rebecca!” he said, stopping me from falling, I smile and shrug “No big deal. Where are we?” I ask looking at the building, holding back the urge to shiver.

“I don’t really know.” Isaac says before pointing “Look! There’s Ethan!” he said, I look over to see Ethan waving us over through a glass door with a symbol on it. We walk over and he opens the door for us. We walked in to see stairs that led down to a room with green cushions lining the walls about halfway, and the floor. The rail had metals hanging from it. As I walk down I see people, in what looks like pajamas, stretching out or talking. I hear a groan to see Lemao looking at us slightly defeated wearing one of those pajamas.

“You guys too?” she whines at us, I smile and shrug innocently. Isaac stands next to me “What are you wearing?” he asks looking around the room at the others who wore the same thing, except some wore black or blue styled. Lemao jokingly poses “Only the latest fashion for fall.” she jokes in a British accent. Isaac and I giggle a little “It’s called a gi,” she says, smiling “it’s a uniform for the school, as you can see.” she gestures to the room. I raise an eyebrow.

“This is a school?” I ask, Lemao nods “Yeah, it’s a school for self-defense.” she explained. I nod in understanding as Ethan passes into a room next to us “I still think it looks like pajamas.” he comments with a smirk. Lemao playfully glares at him “Well no one asked for your opinion, so meh.” Lemao retorts sticking out her tongue.

Lemao leads us through the small room “This is Professor's office.” Lemao says before walking over to a door at the end and opening it, we follow her into an empty hallway “This is the hallway that connects us right next to a pizza place.” Lemao says as we pass by a door that has a waiter and music playing with TV's playing sports on them. She leads us to a door, opening it up to reveal a place with benches and a couple of seats. Also where Dajuan and Cory had been hiding “You guys can chill here until after class.” she says and we all take a seat.

As she heads back onto the mat I lean over to Cory “Why’d she invite us if she didn’t want us here?” I ask. Cory lights up “Oh yeah,” he says, “that was a lie, it was actually Ethan who told me to do it.” he says. I raise an eyebrow “How’d he know about this place?” I ask as we watch Lemao greet another girl. He shrugs, “I don’t know,” he says, “and I’ve given up asking.” he adds, I nod a little as Lemao walks over excitedly clinging onto this girl.

“Guys,” she practically squeals, “this is Mckenna!” Mckenna giggles at Lemao and waves at us. She wore black yoga pants and a pink shirt, her long brown hair was tied into a tight ponytail. She was a nice, thin, hourglass shape. Lemao introduces us before Mckenna goes to get changed and Lemao heads back onto the mat.

“So, I guess she is real.” I said smirking at Ethan, he rolled his eyes “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” he responded but still smiled back at me.

“Alright everyone,” a man wearing a black belt yelled out in a thick accent I couldn’t place “let’s start warming up!” he says before everyone starts running around in circles. I look over at Dajuan and ask, “Isn’t that what they were doing?” Dajuan shrugs “I thought so.” he states.

In the middle of them throwing one another the man with black belt walked over to us.

“Hi, I’m Professor Rapha.” he said shaking our hands, making his name sound like “Hapha” instead of Rapha.

“What brings you all here?” he asked. Dajuan explains that Lemao had invited us, though that wasn’t exactly true, and Raphael brightens up. 

“Lemons friends! Lemon!” he shouted, Lemao looked at him “Why didn’t you tell me you invited friends!?” he asked her, she smiled and shrugged before knocking her partner over.

Professor Rapha talked to us for a bit before heading back onto the mats. All of us sighed in relief “That was the scariest moment of my life.” Ethan says with a small laugh, we all laugh a little with him.

As the class ends I see Lemao’s two brothers -I remember her yelling at the one- and a woman. She was a little shorter than Lemao, having dark red hair, pale skin and freckles everywhere I thought for a moment she looked just like me, only having brown eyes and being fat.

“I’m guessing your Lemao’s friend?” she asks me, we all nod “I’m her mother. You can call me Mrs. Hanes” she says with a small smile as Lemao stands behind her smiling. She shakes my hand and winks at me “She hasn’t stopped talking about you since she met you.” she says and Lemao groans “Maaaa!” she whines and her mother laughs.

“It’s nice to finally meet Lemao’s crew!” Mckenna says shaking all of our hands, Cory elbows Ethan “Guess you owe me five bucks.” he says and Ethan sighs, pulling out five bucks and slapping it into his hand. Mckenna gives a confused look “The two had a bet about whether or not you were real.” Isaac says and Mckenna giggled “You thought I was made up?” she asks and Ethan mumbles. We talk for a little until Mckenna lights up.

“Lemao!” she said “Did you invite them!?” she asked excitedly. Lemao laughs a little at her friends “Uh, no.” she answers with a shrug, “I didn’t even know they’d be here.” she explains rubbing the back of her head.

“What?” Isaac asks the two to have a sort of telepathic conversation before Lemao sighed “Swing dance, now Imma change.” she says escaping to the restroom. Ethan raises an eyebrow. 

“Lemao does swing dance?” he asks, Mckenna almost looks distraught “She’s never told you about swing dance!? But she’s so good at it!” she squeals. Lemao’s mother walks over “Mckenna you should change, otherwise, we may not have time for swing!” she jokes. Mckenna nods and rushes off to change.

“I can’t believe it.” Dajuan says disbelief wrapped in his voice, Isaac nods “Same, I didn’t know Lemao could dance.” he says. Cory runs a hand through his hair “I thought she didn’t like dancing?” he says confused, Ethan nods in agreement. Just then Lemao comes out of the bathroom, the boys breathless.

Lemao was wearing a black dress with white stripes that came to her knees, showing off her legs as she wore cute black flats. I try not to laugh as I turn and see all the boys with mouths agape. Lemao smiled shyly and shuffled a little “Do I, do I really look that bad?” she asks. My eyes widen “No!” I say shocked before swatting Cory's arm to make him wake up.

“You’re… wearing a dress,” he states, I facepalm at his stupidity.  _ Thanks captain obvious, _ I thought. Isaac seems to finally snap out of his shock “You look great.” he says, the others murmuring some sort of agreement.

“Hey, guys! Lemao why didn’t you tell me you were inviting the guys!” Lemao’s little brother says loudly. She shrugs “I didn’t technically.” she says, her baby brother looks at me with wide eyes “Uh,” Lemao says with a small laugh “Rebecca this is Jamin, Jamin this is Rebecca, a friend of mine.” she says as I gush over his cuteness. What, it was really cute okay?

“I know isn’t he's adorable!?” Isaac says gushing with me, Lemao and Jonathan were laughing at us in the background as Jamin smiles widely.

“I’m evil.” he squeaks out.

Everyone around us bursts out laughing, Isaac pinches his cheek “You sure are a Lil pup.” he says with a small laugh.

“What’d I miss?” Lemao’s mother asks walking over to us, Lemao and Jonathan mumble the phrase in a catchy tune before Lemao shrugs “Nothing really momma.” Lemao says.

“So, are your friends coming with us?” she asks, Lemao looks at us, we all nod, she turns back “Yup,” she says. Mckenna comes out wearing a black embroidery on it “Oh yo! We both wore black!” Lemao says excitedly. The two giggle a little.

“Alright, we got everyone, let’s go.” Mrs. Hanes says Lemao gestures us to follow, and we end up walking out to a blue Ford Expedition. 

“Uh, I don’t think we can all fit. There’s seven of us and only six seats.” Jamin states as Mrs. Hanes opens the car. He was right, one of us had to sit in the trunk.

“Poor Jamin,” Isaac says and Lemao shook her head. 

“He’ll be fine Isaac, all the books are back there,” Lemao says as we take off.

We arrive at what looks to be an abandoned church. We parked and walked up the stairs that had a few kids hanging out on it. We entered a big room with a wooden floor, it was pretty much clear except for the seats that lined the walls and a few tables. 

A few people happen to be dancing around to nice, old-ish, upbeat music. The people dressed similarly to Lemao and Mckenna’s style. Lemao’s family goes to claim some seats, Lemao turns to me and puts a handout. 

“Care to dance?” she asks. I giggle and nod, she takes me near the center as more people flood the place. She taught me to swing dance.

“You’re doing great!” Lemao says and I smile at her, the song finishes and Lemao looks over “Oh dear.” she laughs. I look to see Mckenna teaching Cory how to swing dance and Jamin teaching Ethan. 

“I best go before they accidentally kill each other,” Lemao says running off. Someone taps me on the shoulder. I look to see Dajuan.

“May I have this dance?” Dajuan says with a small bow, I smile and curtsy “Why I’d be honored.” I say holding back giggles. We dance quite smoothly to my surprise. 

“Have you swing danced before?” I ask and Dajuan shrugs, “It’s pretty easy to get the hang of it.” he says. Cory walks over to us “May I cut in?” he asks us, I giggle and nod. He pushes me away and takes Dajuan, who looks utterly shook.

“What? You thought I was gonna dance with Rebecca? Nah fam.” Cory says as I laugh while Dajuan mouths “Help me.” I walk over to where Lemao’s family was sitting when I get stopped by Mckenna. I look at her with a smile.

“Lemao’s told me a lot about you.” she says, I raise an eyebrow “Really?” I ask and she nods “Yeah, and, please, stay with her.” she says. I look at her concerned before slowly nodding. She smiles at me before being dragged away by Jamin.

Later in the night Lemao and I sat outside, having some soda, Lemao looked at her bottle before sighing. I raise an eyebrow “What’s on your mind?” I ask, taking a seat next to her, she shrugs. 

“I just... always wondered what it would be like if I never became a reject,” she says. Before I could ask her to elaborate, she rambles.

“Like, would I have the friends I have now? Or would I be totally popular with Jessica and Peggy? Would I know what I’ve learned from my experiences or would I still be naive with them like I was?” She glances at me with a flash of sadness I didn’t know Lemao had. Taking away all my questions made me want to listen. 

“Like, would my friends be treated better?” she sighs, taking another sip. I look up at the sky “How’d you even become a reject in the first place?” I asked, tilting my head. She sighs once more.

“You know, I wasn’t ever popular.” She laughs bitterly “No, I was the lowest in the nerd chain. No one knew I existed until I met her.” she says glaring at the floor. I try to ask who but she answers before I can.

“Jessica, it was a simple project I figured I’d have to do most of the work on. I was right, but after the project, Jessica still hung out with me.” She sighs recently looking up at the sky. 

“A year later, this was in third grade, by the way, a year later I met Peggy.” She laughed a little before taking another sip of her soda. I thought for a moment, that maybe it was spiked.

“You know, the two hated each other’s guts. But they both enjoyed using me.” She whispers the second part, shaking her head. I felt an unexpected pain in my heart at the words. But unsure of how to comfort her, I just sat like an idiot as she continued.

“In fifth grade, we had a big fight near the end of the year. Word got out and the two formed a treaty and made me seem like the bad guy. I was rejected after that, we three made a deal.” she rambled, I began to be concerned.

“What was the deal?” I ask, she looks at me half glaring “You promise not to tell?” she asked. I slowly nod and she looks back up at the sky.

“I’d let them bully me without telling anyone as long as they left my friends alone. I didn’t have those until high school.” she says looking at her bottle “The second part was that I wouldn’t try and befriend anyone close to them, also known as you. And well, I guess that deal’s dead.” she takes another sip, finishing her soda. 

“If the guys ever found out…” she trails looking back at me “Just, don’t tell them,” she says. I put my hands up and said, “I swear.” it wasn’t my place to say, and the look on her face just... made me silent. Mckenna later drags us back inside. 

And although I had fun. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Lemao said to me. The story running through my head like a song on repeat. Until another thought came across my mind.

_ Two days left. _


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Silent Rave?

_ What even is that? A silent rave? _

I’m sure that’s what went through everyone's mind the moment Lemao recommended it. The Saturday morning after Swing, as the smell of books and coffee filled our senses. Books-a-Million, I noticed, was a frequent hangout spot for us. Not that I minded.

“A silent rave. It’s this thing when a bunch of people meet up and listen to music on their headphones and just dance.” Lemao explains though it seemed like all she really received was blank stares. She sighed, but still smiled at us like we were her kids.

“Just come to the mall at seven-thirty, bring your phones, headphones, and, of course, yourselves,” she states, finger gunning us. We all, hesitantly, agreed to go along with whatever she was doing. Going our separate ways to “get ready” for the night ahead.

I arrive at the Cordova Mall around seven. Wandering around in bliss, hanging around in some shops. When I stumble upon Lemao looking at dresses.

“Hey, Lemao!” I chirp walking over, Lemao jumps and turns around quickly, clutching her heart. Half glaring at me “Rebecca,” She said surprised “You almost gave me a heart attack!” I roll my eyes before seeing Dajuan walk over holding a nice long dark purple dress. 

“Dajuan you're going on a trip just trying to  _ walk _ in that.” Lemao comments, Dajuan shrugged “Hey Rebecca.” He said before leaving to put it back. I wave as he does so.

“Do you always help him out?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. She shakes her head, chuckling slightly “No, no, I usually don't. But it’s for swing dance so he asked me to.” She says shrugging a little. I nod slightly looking around. 

“Ethan?” I was shocked to find Ethan looking at dresses. He turned around surprised as Lemao and I were upon finding him. Dajuan walks back over.

“Oh, Ethan I didn't know you liked wearing skirts as well,” Dajuan said pleasantly surprised. Ethan shook his head almost defensively. 

“I, uh, I don't. I just, um, wanted to, well, uh, buy one for Dajuan.” Ethan stuttered looking down at his hands, fidgeting with them. He turned red with each word and I heard Lemao squeak a little. There was a small awkward silence as Dajuan didn't respond.

“You know what? I'm Starvin Marvin, let’s head to the food court.” Lemao says and the boys rush out at the sound of food. Lemao and I giggle as we follow behind. Hearing them talk about some random anime. Lemao leans over to me.

“I ship it.” She whispers and I nod in agreement as we watched them. 

We arrive at the food court to see Cory and Isaac chatting. Isaac spotted us first with a joyful wave. I wave back as Dajuan and Ethan rush over to Sbarro, a nice pizza place in the food court. Lemao shakes her head “My goodness,” she mutters with a smile, “they're always eating.” I chuckle a little as we take a seat with Cory and Isaac.

We notice the Chick-fil-a bags littered across the table and Lemao clicks the roof of her tongue. 

“You know what? That makes me want one of their shakes. So, b-r-b.” she says, before immediately leaving toward the busy restaurant.

“Hey, Rebecca?” Isaac asks.

“Yeah?” I responded curiously, taking a seat across from him and Cory. 

“What do hood chickens say when people come into their neighborhood?” he asks, a mischievous look in his eyes. I smile, confused “I don’t know Isaac.” I say as Cory looks at him slightly bewildered. Isaac’s smile widens.

“You came to the wrong neighborhood mother-clucker!” he laughs out excitedly, I chuckle but Cory just shakes his head, a smile on his face. That doesn’t stop Isaac. 

“I’m scrambling for an egg-joke!” he states, eyes filled with joy “But I can’t seem to whip one up!” he laughs even more. I chuckle a little more but Cory groans with his head in his hands. Lemao plops down next to me, taking a sip of her shake.

“What’d I miss?” she asks in a catchy tune, I raise an eyebrow “Why do you say it like that?” I ask her. She slams the table, standing up and knocking her chair back.

“HAMILTON!” she screeches. People stare at our table in pure confusion, she clears her throat and sits down “Sorry.” she mutters. I rub the back of my head and smile. 

“I regret asking,” I say, making the boys laugh. Ethan and Dajuan finally arrive with trays of pizza. We joke around for a little while until Lemao leans into us. 

“It’s only five minutes until the Rave, come on,” she whispers. We look at her confused, she sighs “Only those who know about it are participating.” she explains. We nod and throw our trash away, pulling out our phones, and getting ready. I see a few people fidgeting nervously, obviously here for the same reason we were. I put on my headphones and wait, Lemao counts down using her fingers.

Three

Two

One

Unanimously everyone presses play and start to jam out. Some people who were caught off guard laughed and joined in. The man in a Chick-fil-a costume even started dancing like crazy. I shake my head with a large smile on my face as I let myself be whisked away by  _ Nine in The Afternoon _ from  _ Panic! At The Disco _ .

Isaac, trying his best dance moves. Listened to  _ Game Over _ by  _ Falling in Reverse. _ Having the time of his life letting go and immersing in the music.

Cory, doing quite well. Listened to  _ Letter to My Freshman Self _ by  _ Altas _ . Not that you could really tell as he moved around like the song was fast-paced.

Ethan, trying to awkwardly shuffle without embarrassing himself. Listened to  _ She’s Kinda Hot Though _ by  _ 5 Seconds of Summer _ . Enjoying watching the others attempt to dance as he jammed to his own tunes.

Dajuan was at least having fun. Though he wasn’t sure how to dance to  _ Birds _ by Thomas Sanders. But he liked the song and was enjoying himself.

Lemao, rocking it in swing dance style. Jammed out to  _ Me & Mr. Jones _ by  _ Amy Whinehouse _ . Living her best life as she embraced the song happily having the time of her life.

I laugh a little and feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to Lemao, who gestures to me to take out my headphones. I do realize that it was practically pure silence, she smiles widely at me.

“Amazing right?” She asks me, I nod in awe “The City is different at night.” she says with that Mona Lisa smile before putting her headphones back in.

Then, as though time flew through a thousand hoops. We’re leaving the mall, laughing and talking about people dancing.

“I don’t know if you saw that guy with the awesome afro, wearing a red tee. But he was breaking dancing  _ so hard _ . It was awesome!” Dajuan comments. A few of us in agreement. Talking about which was the best dancer through the night, almost in a debate of who was the best. Until Ethan brought up.

“What about that Chick-fil-a guy? I mean, not the best dancer. But I almost died laughing at him.”

That spurred the spiral of the storytelling of Jerry. The used-to-be lawyer who somehow lost everything through someone sending him a terrible meme. And was now nothing more than a simplistic chick-fil-a mascot wearer. Forced to relive some sort of nightmare for the rest of his life.

...Honestly, I’m not sure about it either.

But as we walked into Burger King. The silence of the small restaurant being disrupted by our laughter. Lemao squeals, running over to the counter.

“Dakota!” she says excitedly, on the other side of the counter was a girl that stood an inch or two shorter than Lemao. Hair cut short with purple and teal hues gracing her curls. We walk over and she waves at us.

“Guys!” Lemao squeaks jumping from foot to foot “This is Dakota! He’s from my Theater class!” She explains. Cory looks confused. “He?” he asked, scratching his face a little. Lemao shot him a look. 

“Yes Cory,  _ he _ . Dakota is trans female to male,” she stated, almost defensively as her friend rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. We all nod, understandingly. We place our orders, as I’m doing mine Dakota looks at me a bit confused.

“Aren’t you Rebecca, one of the coolest girls in school?” he asks me, I give a small smile “No, I’m not.” I say and Lemao shoots finger guns at me “You’re right, you’re the coolest.” she grins. I roll my eyes “I’m not the coolest either. I’m just a girl with a name from twilight.” I say as he hands me my cup. I walk away as Lemao laughs at my comment. 

We all talk and laugh, Dakota even joining in as we weren’t that far from the counter. Filling the void of silence inside the restaurant before two people burst in.

“See, it’s the fat chick I was telling you about!” 

I hold back every urge to attack Ram as he drags behind Kurt. Who very much made it clear he did not want to be here. We make eye contact and he gives me a pathetic smile and shrug. Our group silently glared at Ram. Well, the guys were also shooting glares at Kurt.

“And what’s wrong with being fat?” Isaac growled under his breath, Lemao placed a hand on his arm “Isaac relax, it’s not worth getting kicked out for.” she whispered to him. She looked at me, hopeful and shy. 

“Rebecca,” she began, “can you, ya know, talk to them maybe?” she asked. I nodded understandingly, why be violent when one could persuade him to leave? Well, if he could be persuaded that is.

The more I looked at Kurt, the more he shrunk in on himself.

“Come on man. It’s really not worth the trouble of driving here just to make fun of someone.” Kurt’s voice wasn’t loud or confident. More like he was trying to persuade a toddler to eat vegetables. 

I glance over to Dakota, who seems to not care at all at the hate in front of him. He yawned and gave me a small grin. Which turned Ram’s attention over to me.

“Hey! Rebecca!” he greets putting an arm around me. I hide my grimace and smile politely. 

“Hey, guys.” I greet “So, whatcha’ doing?” I asked with false curiosity as I casually got Ram’s arm off me. He laughs some more and I roll my eyes. 

“Every day we find this fat chick here. It’s hilarious, she’s delusional!” Ram says slapping my back.

“This is actually just your-” Kurt’s cut off from defending himself.

“She claims that she’s actually a guy!” he continues “But that’s not possible! You’re born either he or she, no in-betweens and no changing!” Ram explains “Plus she’s fat, and no girl should be that.” he adds. I look at Kurt, who simply doesn’t meet my eye. He attempts an apologetic shrug but Ram slams his arm around him. Laughing as if no problem existed.

“Well,” I snarled, catching them off guard, “I think  _ he  _ can be any gender  _ he  _ wants. Also, the shape of a man should not define him, but his actions and reactions tell you who he truly is. So if you'd stop being so arrogant and leave that would be wonderful.” I hiss at them. They stared at me with pure awe and, for a moment, I thought I got through to Ram.

Until he bursts out laughing. Kurt sighs disappointedly and looks at me with a regretful expression. I shrugged back to him, unable to respond. I glanced at the gang with a look that said: “I'm sorry.” And Ram pats my shoulder as he finally stopped laughing.

“Oh, Rebecca!” He wheezes “I didn't know you had that kinda joke!” he nudges Kurt to get a response from him. To which he quietly chuckles “Yeah,” he mutters “I thought you were legit serious for a second there.” he sounded almost unsure when he spoke. Ram then turns pale staring behind me. Grabbing Kurt’s wrist and bolting out of here. Kurt gives me a small smile and salutes as I see Lemao waving them goodbye. She turns to me happily.

“Hey,” she shrugs “I got powers.” With that, we walk over to the counter. Dakota was laughing, bent over on the counter for support. I smile a little “I'm so sorry you have to deal with Ram.” I say. He waves his hand in dismissal, his laughter dies down “I just wish I got his response to Lemao on video.” He states with a wide smile.

We finish up and say goodbye to Dakota. Exiting the door to see Ram and Kurt sitting in their car. Waiting to harass Dakota once more. I roll my eyes “Go home losers!” Ethan yells at them. Ram popped his head out “Who ya callin’ loser, freaks!” He shouts back. Even getting out of the car. 

Isaac bolts past all of us, running like a bull straight towards Ram. Knocking him over and slamming his foot on his chest, pinning Ram to the floor.

“Never! Ever Disrespect Someone Again! Or You’ll Be In A Grave The Next Time We Meet!”

Lemao sighs, running over there as Kurt was about to pound him. Instead, hitting Lemao to which she stumbles. She pushed him, the unexpected force making him stumble. She grabbed Isaac. 

“RUN!!” She shouted before bolting. We follow in suit, Ram and Kurt shouting at us as we leave them in the dust. I glance at Lemao with several questions. 

How can Kurt act like a friend in one stance, but then have zero hesitation to attack us next? Why did he give me advice, and help me? But have no resistance to fighting Isaac!?

I don’t have time to question, as we focus on running away from a  _ real _ fight where no school rules apply.

We make a decent distance from Burger King. Looking at each other before beginning to laugh. Until we were basically unable to breathe. The adrenaline leaves us as we calm down. Dajuan looks at Lemao “You alright?” He asks as we notice the bruise formed on her face. She nods and we all here Isaac groan. We turn to see him on the floor, rubbing his ankle. Lemao crouches down next to him.

“You all right?” She asked as he shook his head “I think I broke it.” He mutters to her. She takes his shoe off and inspects his ankle. She hums “It's sprained, not broken. Here,” she then takes her backpack off and unzips it, pulling out an ankle brace “put this on.” She says handing it to him. She helps him up once he puts it on.

“Why do you even have that?” Ethan asked, rubbing the back of his head. Lemao shrugs “Always come prepared ya know?” She responds. We begin walking, Lemao having invited us over, and promising Isaac a ride home.

As we were a black car pulled up next to us. Halting a stop, and none other than Ram and Kurt exit. Ram held a sadistic smile on his face. Kurt took a breath and popped his knuckles, playtime was over.

“You thought this was over freaks?” Ram growled anger etched in his words “It's just begun.”

I feel something on my hand, I look over to see Isaac putting the umbrella in my hands. I smile at him, knowing what he was trying to tell me. He smiles back and nods. I walked over to Kurt. _ You wanna play this game _ I thought as I gingerly placed a hand on his shoulder  _ then lets play _ . He glanced down and we both knew about the umbrella, but he chooses to play dumb. 

“Hey, Kurt~” I giggled, batting my eyelashes at him. He grins a fake one and wraps an arm gently around my waist. I hold back a cringe at his touch, to which I see he stops touching me, hands now just hovering over my body. It's a moment of silence, and I see Kurt lightly nod. Before whacking him hard with Isaac’s umbrella. 

The “unexpected” hit knocked him back, I backed off in fear. Ram takes this and begins throwing punches at Dajuan. Kurt looks at me, and it’s as if I knew we had to fake this fight. But before Kurt could “land” any punches on me, Cory jumps in front of me and blocks him. Kurt and I are both surprised but Lemao moves me.

“I got it, don’t worry,” she whispers. She joins Cory and tag teams Kurt. I turn back to see Ethan and Dajuan ganging up on Ram, but Isaac looks a little disappointed. We make eye contact and I smile, tossing him the umbrella just seconds before Ram knocks Ethan past us. We look over at Ram, coming straight for us. As he does Isaac gets into batter stance, and before Ram could stop himself. He met up with Isaac’s umbrella as Isaac swung it. 

“He knocks it outta the park!!” He shouts as Ram stumbles back in a daze before falling flat “Homerun!” Isaac shouts and I do a crowd cheer for him. Dajuan and Isaac sit on him, pinning Ram to the floor. I hear a loud curse and we all look over to see Lemao on the floor, curled up in a small ball as Cory continues to fight Kurt. 

Ethan runs past me with Isaac's umbrella in hand. Pushing Cory out of the way and knocking Kurt over. He then begins to repeatedly beat Kurt, despite the screams of mercy. Everyone else just stood there, all of us in shock. Lemao looks up to see the horrendous sight.

“Ethan!” She shouts, but I don't think he heard her “Ethan!!” She shouts even louder. Ram is screaming at the top of his lungs, unable to move the stone-cold Dajuan or Isaac.

“Ethan!!” Lemao screams at the top of her lungs. Running up to him and pushing him off Kurt. Ultimately we all unfreeze and Dajuan and Isaac jump off of Ram. Who runs to Kurt, who is unconscious. Lemao checks his pulse, keeping her left hand on her chest. She sighs of relief.

“He's breathing.” She huffs out and gets up “Cory,” she says, her voice wavey yet commanding “help Ram get Kurt in his car.” She demands. Hesitantly, Cory helps Ram. Lemao grabs Ethan by the arm harshly, pulling him close to her height.

“Don't  _ ever  _ do that again.” She growls at him, he nods quickly and fearfully. She lets him go. Looking over at Dajuan “Let me borrow your phone, I live nearby I can call my mom.” She says it sounded like a request, but it seemed more like a demand. He hands it to her, seemingly still stunned by what happened. 

“Is your arm-” 

“My arm is fine Isaac.” She cuts Isaac off and turns away as she puts the phone to her ear.

Questions about what just happened run through my head. Anger, shock, sadness. Hit me like a semi-truck going faster than the allowed speed limit. Ram drives off, probably to the hospital as Cory walks over “Everyone alright?” He asks. No one speaks, but we all nod.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Hanes arrives with some opinions of her own.


	14. Chapter Fourteen: It’s Fine, Sorta

“Lemao-Elizabeth Belle Hanes!!” Mrs. Hanes yelled at Lemao, who was sitting up front staring at the window “You should've called me as SOON as you left for Burger King! Not after!” She did a violent turn down the street. The rest of us awkwardly and shamefully sat in the back seat, quietly letting Mrs. Hanes scream.

We were on the way to the hospital, Lemao had broken her arm while fighting Kurt. Of course, no one said it was a fight. Lemao told her mother we got jumped by a group of random teenagers. The guys just went with it and I kept my mouth shut.

“AND THEN!!” Her mother shouts “YOU CHOOSE TO  _ WALK _ HOME!! LEMAO, WALK!” she screeches. Lemao shrugs “Don't shrug with that tone young lady!” Her mother shouts turning once more “I told you walking alone at night is dangerous! But you never listen!” She lectures at a red light. Lemao looks at her mom.

“I wasn't alone, I wasn't thinking about it. I'm sorry.” She mutters, still staring out the window.

“Sorry doesn't settle it,” Mrs. Hanes sighs “you… you need to listen more, you can't keep flying off based on luck. It only gets you so far Lemao, and you pulled your friends along with you.” she says as we pull into the ER parking lot. We all mutter in apology and begin heading inside. 

We enter as it seems the last visitors’ exit. A tired lady at the desk sighed as we walked over.

“I'm sorry but visiting hours are over.” She states with a yawn. Mrs. Hanes shakes her head “I'm not here to visit, my daughter has a broken arm.” She is as equally tired as the desk lady. The desk lady glances at me skeptically “Ma'am, she seems fine to me.” Mrs. Hanes gives a frustrated sigh “ _ This _ is my daughter.” She points to Lemao. Who gives a small smile and a wave, showing her swollen wrist. The woman's eyes widened.

The rest of us take a seat in the lobby as Mrs. Hanes checks Lemao in. As this happens I see Lemao pacing with a worried expression. I raise an eyebrow “What's wrong?” I ask her, she looks at me and shrugs “Don't like hospitals.” She says and continues pacing. 

“Elizab Hanes?” A nurse comes out a few minutes with a wheelchair. Without correcting the name, Lemao and her mom leave to cast her arm. 

“Yes, I’m in the hospital.” I look over to see Isaac on his phone “No, not for me mom, for a friend. She broke her arm.” I look at the guys, Cory was pacing, Dajuan sat off in thought, Ethan was bouncing his leg like crazy as he stared off “No, her mom’s going to drop me off after her arm is cast. Okay, love you too.” he says before hanging up and putting his phone away. 

“Can you stop pacing?” Ethan asked harshly, glaring at Cory. Cory stops and glares back “No,” he says just as harshly. Ethan stands up and the two are head on each other. Which somehow sets off a bomb of tension. The two begin to bicker.

“We wouldn’t even be here if you’d have protected Lemao like you were supposed to!” Ethan states with a growl. Cory flails his arms “No! We wouldn’t be here if Isaac kept his mouth shut!” He shouts pointing to Isaac, who looks down in shame “And what about you!? You almost killed Kurt” He shoves Ethan, who shoves back.

“Enough!” Dajuan gets in between them before they can do a full-on fistfight. He looks between the two “It doesn’t matter what we should have done or could have done. It’s happened and we can’t change it.” Dajuan snaps at them “Bickering like five-year-olds won’t help! So shut up and sit down!” he demands, pointing to the seats. Begrudgingly, the two sit down a few feet from each other, pouting like children. I hear a sniffle and look to see Isaac sitting down crying.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” I ask, taking a seat next to him. He sniffles “It's my fault.” He mutters. I shake my head “No it's not,” I interject “Ram and Kurt are just jerks.” I tell him, shooting him a small smile. He smiles back, hugging me.

A screech echoes through the empty lobby, making us flinch into silence. We all just sit and wait. After what felt like hours, Lemao and her mom came out. We speed walk over to them, not wanting to bombard her or her mom.

“Are you alright?” Ethan asks, Lemao nods tiredly with a Mona Lisa smile “I'm breathing, I'm alive, I'm fine.” She says as we walk out. 

As we head to the car Lemao sees Ram. And before anyone knew what she could be thinking, she spoke “Hey!” She called out to him, he whipped around to her in surprise before glaring “What?” He sneered. Instead of meeting him back just as harshly, she softened “Is Kurt okay?” She asked, almost in a whisper. His eyebrows raised in surprise, his face down in shock. He looked away from us, he muttered something, walking away. Lemao nodded as if she heard what he said, and we continued to the car.

\--

We pulled into Isaac's driveway, Ethan moving out of the way so Isaac could leave. Before he leaves he taps on Mrs. Hanes’s window. She looks at him expectantly.

“I'm sorry Mrs. Hanes, I should've told Lemao that she should call you.” He told her, though I don't think that's what he really wanted to say. Mrs. Hanes gave a warm smile “It's alright kiddo, it's not your fault anyway. I'm just glad you're safe, now get some rest.” She said and he nodded, heading inside.

Lemao chuckles, breaking the silence. She does it again “Sorry,” she says “I was just thinking about how the desk lady thought Rebecca was my mom's daughter.” She said laughing some more. The four of us laugh a little as well “My question is how she didn’t notice the fact your arm was broken.” Cory guffawed. Dajuan snickers and I laugh a little more “Like hello? Stupid much?” Dajuan says. We all begin to crack up. Drifting from topic to topic.

We arrive at Lemao's house and immediately crash on her couch. Lemao goes around turning off lights inside the house, like above the wash and dryer or lamps. 

I feel something on my shoulder and look to see Dajuan passed out on me. I look around and find Ethan laying on top of Cory, who was leaning against the arm of the couch with his arm around Ethan. I snickered a little at them. I hear the clicking of the keyboard and look to see Lemao typing on a Chromebook with one hand. I carefully move Dajuan off me and collapse next to her.

“Whatcha’ doin’?” I ask drowsily, fighting back a yawn. She shrugs “Burnin’ the midnight oil.” She says to me, I lean on her shoulder and slowly close her Chromebook. She looked at me with an amused smile, eyebrow raised “What are you doing?” She asked before yawning. I close my eyes “Getting you to sleep.” I drag out the word sleep. She chuckles at me, moving the Chromebook and shuffling a little. Taking me into the crux of her arm. A sigh leaves her.

“Goodnight.”

“Night.”


	15. Chapter Fifteen: The Final Countdown

I wake up to Lemao gently nudging me “Sleeping beauty it’s time to awaken.” she whispers. I don’t know what made me say it, but I replied “I need a true love's kiss.” the realization hitting me after the words left my mouth. I open my eyes to see Lemao blushing bright red with a shocked look. I hear a chuckle from across the room, I look over and see Ethan recording us and Jonathan fighting back laughter. I blush hard and quickly get off Lemao, who gives a giggle “Didn’t know you swung that way,” she says with giggles intertwined. I roll my eyes, the blush slowly wearing off, getting off the loveseat, ironic I know, and stretching. Ethan laughs “This is gonna go viral ‘Former Popular girl Lesbo w/ Reject’.” he says before Dajuan grabs the phone “Hey!” Ethan says grabbing after it. After a moment or two, Dajuan hands it back to him “Viral vid: deleted.” he says and Ethan groans “You're no fun.” and Lemao just smiles. 

Lemao’s house is small, it has two ten gallon tanks sitting on a wooden coffee table next to a bedroom. Her living room was connected to the dining room. It had two shelves, filled to the brim with cups and knick-knacks of sorts. In between the shelves was a T.V. on a stand which held a PS3, and PS4, a Wii as well as random games and controllers sprawled throughout it.

The dining room held a medium-sized table with a blue table cloth, three metal chairs, a wheeled chair, and a wooden chair. Right next to the wooden chair (which was closest to the living room) was a black wooden table with three tall wooden black chairs. On the table held a small tank. Before I could continue looking around, I almost fell over as something rams into my back leg.

“Roscoe!” Lemao scolds running behind me, I turn to see a pitbull. Well, I think it was a pit bull, he seemed a bit like a mixture of a pit bull and something else. Lemao sighs “Sorry, he likes to run when he’s let off the leash.” she says to me with a small smile. I brush it off, and Lemao walks off to the kitchen. That’s when I smell the bacon and eggs. I hear snickering and turn around to see Ethan with a bucket over a peacefully sleeping Cory. Jonathan had his phone out, already recording, and Dajuan was just shaking his head. Not trying to stop the chaos, as he was smiling wide at this. A large splash and a yelp is the only thing I heard before Ethan whizzes past me shortly followed by a wet Cory. I laugh a little as Jonathan follows them, still recording, outside.

I see Jamin setting up the table, Dajuan joining in like this was his house. I shrug and decide to help as well. As we finish up Lemao puts down a plate of pancakes, Jamin walking away and bringing back bacon and eggs. 

“Dajuan can you get the boys from outside?” Mrs. Hanes asks, Dajuan nods as she puts down the syrup and ketchup. I hear shouting outside and look at Lemao and Mrs. Hanes in concern. The two look at each other before simply shrugging at me, as if it was a normal morning for them. 

Cory comes in with a satisfied look on his face, Ethan following behind defeatedly now wet. Jonathan looked at his phone with a large grin and Dajuan putting down some folding chairs. 

A breakfast filled with laughter and chatter as though it was a normal morning. Like we all lived together, I couldn’t help but smile in content as I helped clean up. 

“You missed it,” Ethan said as we got in the car (Jonathan and Jamin staying home) “when Dajuan first woke up, he was freaking out,” he says. Dajuan groans, face-palming “What? Why?” I ask concerned, Ethan laughs “He forgot we spent the night, he thought we were kidnapped!” and Cory snickers, I roll my eyes and Mrs. Hanes shakes her head.

“So what we gonna do?” I ask as we drive to Isaac’s, Lemao turns to face me with that Mona Lisa smile “We’re gonna have your final decision,” she said, causing an eerie silence “at Books-A-Million.” we all stay silent as we pull up to Isaac’s house. Isaac was already outside waiting for us. He quickly hops in and we sit in silence, a suffocating one. So much so Lemao turned on the radio to ease the tension.

We arrive at Books-A-Million, walking inside and immediately seeing Jessica and Peggy at a table made of three small tables, with six empty chairs. The five of us sit down, Lemao talking to her mother at the door. We sit in uncomfortable silence, waiting on Lemao to start. She eventually skips over to us, yes she skipped over to the table like a five-year-old. The Mona Lisa smile is ever so present.

“Sorry, mom was telling me she’d be at Hobby Lobby if we need her,” she says as if the tension wasn’t obvious. Jessica rolls her eyes “Well, Rebecca?” she says, all eyes on me as she does so.

If you’d asked me a month ago, I’d have joined Jessica and Peggy in a heartbeat.

Now, it seemed the complete opposite.

I sigh a little “You already know my answer.” I say and Jessica smirks as if she won. I smirk back “I said it when I first joined these dorks.” I state, wiping the smirk off her face. The guys cheer, Dajuan and Isaac squeezing me from both sides. Jessica slams the table as Peggy sits there in shock.

“Seriously!?” She shrieks “Lemao could not have won against me!” Lemao drops her Mona Lisa smile and rolls her eyes. Isaac scoffs “Since when was this a competition, really?” he comments.

“Seriously, everyone here knows that high school is a phase except you two, let it go,” Cory says as the boys roll their eyes. Jessica glares at Lemao, we all glare back. 

“This was a competition ever since you broke up the  _ perfect _ trio!” Jessica spits pointing at Lemao. She then points at me “ _ She _ was supposed to make you jealous! Then you took her away too!” she growls. We all look at her in shock, Peggy gets up and whispers something to her. 

“Whatever Peggy. None of this would even be happening if you’d have just listened to me!” Jessica says harshly, shooting daggers at Lemao. 

Lemao calmly stands up, so calmly it scares me, and walks over to the two. Pulling Jessica down, whispering in her ear. Her eyes with a fierce flame as Jessica turns pale, the five of us couldn’t help but move back. I had never seen Jessica so afraid, I had never seen Lemao so  _ angry _ . Lemao then grabs Peggy by the ear, Peggy yelping at the unexpected motion. Peggy just nods quickly to what Lemao was saying. She lets go of the two.

“This is the part where you run,” she growls, the two take note and runoff, Lemao’s naturally happy demeanor returning. As if she didn’t just scare the most intimidating girls at school. We all stare at her in awe, she tilts her head confused “Something wrong?” She asks.

“When were you ever friends with them?” Ethan asks, rather harshly, Lemao looks away guilty before flashing us that Mona Lisa smiles and scoffing a little “A  _ long _ time ago. I barely remember anything from it. Come on now, we have to stop my mom before she buys all the owls at Hobby Lobby.” she says and with that, we were off.

We were wandering around in Petsmart when Lemao tapped me lightly “Here,” she says as Isaac gushes over the turtles, explaining them to Dajuan, who was smiling at him. I look at a small folded piece of paper she puts in my hand “it's the official paper.” She jokes before being dragged away by Ethan. Who shows her all the cats, fawning over them. I open the paper in curiosity.

**_So, I was wrong about you Rebecca. In a lot of ways, and for that I am so glad. I'm glad you stayed with us and I'm glad you enjoy our company._ **

**_This paper shows the literal representation of our friendship. It's the reminder that no matter what, we always stick together. So, sign down below and stick around for more of our stupidity._ **

**_Lemao H._ **

**_X___________________ **

I smile and fold the paper back up.  _ I'll sign it later  _ I thought, putting it in my pocket.

“Uh, Rebecca?” I look to see Cory concerned “Ethan is convincing Lemao to buy a cat and I can't stop it. Help.” He says and I laugh a little. Following him to Ethan and Lemao


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Secrets

It was Monday night, I was having a much needed night in when I got a notification from an app I forgot I even had.

The reject site.

The name says it all, a site dedicated to hating on the Rejects. I shake my head and click on it to unsubscribe and delete my account. Only to get sucked into scrolling through it all. There was a group of jocks who attacked Dajuan in the bathroom, with an army of praise in the comments. There was Ram bragging about fighting us at Burger King, and a mob of hateful comments about Ethan that made my blood boil. I refresh the page to get away from it and see a new post.

_ Secrets? Christmas Came Early Kids! _

I clicked out of curiosity, almost dropping my phone from what I found.

_ We all know the rejects, the pointless freaks that infest our school like pests. But, we all have a question with no answers. Why are the rejects, rejects? Well, fear not dearest followers. Follow me and I’ll provide the answers you seek. _

_ #1 Isaac Brant _

_ We all know of Isaac, he’s the child of the group. Pointless, whiny, needy, an absolute pain upon all who know him. But surprisingly, that’s not why he’s a reject. As it so happens to be, the thorn in our side known as Isaac is gay. _

_ That’s right folks, Isaac is gay for someone he calls “Snowflake” and is in a Christian family, how tragic. _

_ I wonder if I could speak to his parents, they need some comfort after finding out he’s rejected from society as much as he is gay. _

_ #2 Dajuan Lee _

_ We all know Dajuan, a former social butterfly. A fairly popular one at that, taken down by what many believe to be a rumor. Well, you know I hate to disappoint, but this rumor that’s been going around is truer than life itself. _

_ Dajuan wears a dress, high heels, the whole shebang! _

_ I know some of you probably aren’t surprised. But I bet you are surprised that I have some pictures of some of his most frequently worn ones. _

I almost threw my phone. Taking a shaky breath, I instead held the phone like it was the one guilty of the post. Scrolling past the photos to see Cory’s:

_ #3 Cory Robbins _

_ We all know Cory, the dumb muscle that can barely protect those freaks. Somehow not expelled for as many fights he got in. Many believe he has no fear, as he is known for charging head-on in any instance. But the boy does have one fear. _

_ Moths _

_ You heard it here folks! Cory “Crazy” Robbins has a fear of some small moths! I know what everyone’s doing for Halloween costumes! _

_ #4 Ethan Walker _

_ The rejects right hand, first mate, second in command. Maybe the leaders crush? Who knows! What I do know, however, is that Ethan is a major fan of poetry. To the point, he has a few written. Go on and take a look! _

I shakily put my phone down, my blood on fire inside of me. I took a breath, standing up, and pacing. Taking a moment before grabbing my phone. Shocked at what I see next.

_ #5 Rebecca Youngblood _

_ Yes, we all know preppy, girly, arrogant, former popular Rebecca. Believe it or not, she doesn’t have a big secret. Besides the fact, it was all fake! She never hung out with the leader of the rejects! Despite the “photo evidence” it’s a lie! So when you see her at school, give her a good ol’ hug and welcome her back! _

_ That’s all I got, I know you’re probably wondering about the leader herself. But, unfortunately, that’s a tough case. But stay tuned dearest followers! Cause she might exploit herself soon! If so, you’ll be the first to know! _

I growl and delete my account, deleting the horrid app on my phone. Thinking of anyone I know who could’ve done this. Huffing as no names came up, just then my phone rings. I jump a little and see Cory calling me, my stomach churns. I shake my head at its response, answering the phone despite the urge to just ignore the call.

“What’s up Cory?” I ask, holding back the urge to squirm a bit.

“Hey  _ Rebecca _ ,” he growls my name with such harshness I can’t help but flinch. ”I gotta know. Was this just a ruse?” he’s question leaves me speechless, so he keeps talking “Was all  _ this _ just for some stupid  _ secrets _ ? Was every joke, and laugh a lie? Was every smile fuc-” someone muffled stops him, gives a frustrated sighed “forced.” he ends it with a statement as if he believed there was no alternative. 

“What!?” I ask, breathlessly as if he knocked the wind out of me “Cory, no, I… I didn’t do this.” I state, hurt at the thought that he didn’t trust me. He chuckles scornfully, partially making it feel as though he was mocking me. 

“Funny how you knew I meant that article instead of anything else. Isn’t that just  _ so _ coincidental?” Anger etched into every word with a knife. I sputter on my words and I hear a scoff, that’s when I realize it’s not just him and me on the phone. 

“Wow, can’t even find a good explanation? You refuse to admit it but also have no alter reason or explanation.” Ethan scoffs in disgust. I choke on my voice as Ethan continues “You have Isaac in a state of panic because his parents can see this thing going around the internet like the latest fad. Dajuan has deleted all of his social media because of how bad the cyberbullying has gotten in just a few minutes. Cory’s trying not to cry and I’ve stopped Lemao from going to your place at least six times.” there’s a pause and a quiet shuffle before a huff “Make that seven.” he mutters in displeasure.

I flop on my bed, sitting in a pool of shock before a voice pipes up that makes me flinch.

“Are you happy? Are you satisfied over there!?” Dajuan’s voice slowly raised itself as though he was a pot about to explode. I curl up a bit at his tone, unable to respond. A sob cuts the silence, it sounds like Isaac but I’m not sure. With that something in me flares up, coming to life I snap at them.

“How  _ dare  _ you,” I growl “how dare you accuse me of something I haven’t done. Of something, you don’t even have  _ proof _ of! I thought you  _ trusted _ me, guys!” I let out an exasperated huff. A silence hovers over us until I hear a quiet scoff. 

“No proof?” Lemao’s voice was quiet, but it stilled all of me “You think I don’t know? I  _ know _ Chrissy gave you. The one she could never crack, the only thing on this planet that could help you post that article.” I open my mouth to protest but Lemao’s not done “Not to mention, this only happened  _ after _ all our secrets got to you?  _ Maybe _ ,” she scoffs as if the notions are ridiculous “maybe you didn’t write it. But I am so  _ sure _ you had a helping hand in creating that article. So stop playing like you’ve turned over some new leaf. Go back to being a- a jerk with Jessica and Peggy.” another sobs from their end breaks Lemao off from her lecture. She sighs.

“Goodbye Rebecca, it was never a pleasure.”

Sob comes out of me as the dial tone hits. I sob, breathing in so hard I hurt my chest, but I can’t stop. I curl up and lean against the wall, sobbing away my breath until it feels more like I’m drowning. Just trying to gasp for air. I’m not sure when I calmed down. But eventually, I was laying down, limp, and having my body feel like weights. 

Until I fell asleep.


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Christian Price

I jolt awake at around three in the morning, with no motivation to do anything. So I laid in bed for an extra three hours doing absolutely nothing, maybe I did fall back asleep. But it didn’t feel like I had, my mom knocked on the door.

“Wake up! You need to get ready for school.” I can hear her shuffling her things together. Almost as if she was in a rush, despite the fact that she wouldn’t be running late. I slowly lift myself up, feeling all the weight of my body shift. I had never felt so hazy before. 

I exit the room as my mom exits the house. Lazily putting on a sweater and jeans, I slip into sneakers and throw my bookbag on. I sigh and pull my hair up in a ponytail, I probably looked like a mess, but I don’t think I could’ve cared. I slam my door shut, looking to see Jessica and Peggy pulling into my driveway. Jessica looks at me with a scoff. “Go back in and change!” she yells at me from the car. I roll my eyes but walk over to the car.

“What do you want?” I ask glaring daggers at them. Peggy smiles at me, almost as if she was in relief. I don’t reciprocate the gesture, instead, let my frown deepen at the sight.

“We’re taking you to school, like we always do.” She explains.

“No, you mean like you always  _ did _ ,” I sass them “before I became a reject? After that, I had to walk to school every day.” I let my voice growl as I stare them down. Peggy looks away from me guiltily, but Jessica just glares back.

“You have to understand Rebecca, our reputations were on the line.”

“Right, right, right, reputations. I forget how important those are.” I flail my arms up with sarcasm “So much more important than friendships, and people who you ‘care’ about. Yeah, yeah, my bad.” I shoot them a toothy smile. Peggy deflates but Jessica glares at me as if she was holding me down at gunpoint.

I back away from the car and laugh at them mockingly “You know what? Save your reputations, shove them up your  _ ass _ for all I care! I’m gonna walk, so peace out.” I begin walking down the street, the car drives past me. Jessica flipped me off as they exited my neighborhood. 

Anger fuels my power walk and I arrive at the school gates before I even realize the time. I walk into school, to be immediately bombarded with apologies and excuses that I didn’t even care about. I respond dully, just trying to get through the group of people when I see Lemao.

Her jacket zipped up and hoodie over her head, our eyes met only for a moment but it deflated me. Any anger I had left my body and she walked out of view. I don’t fight the crowd around me. I zone out as everyone continues to shout at me. 

“Uh, hi. Hey, yeah excuse me. Sorry I just need to pull her away for a second. Yup, good to see you to Jeff.” I zone back in to see Kurt making his way toward me. He takes my hand.

“Hey, can we talk?”

I immediately nod, almost as if I was begging for him to speak to me. He gracefully pulls me out of the crowd, letting them disperse as we find a quieter location. A few of them give me, suggestive glances, and I roll my eyes.

We stand underneath the outside stairs by the portables. I can’t help but yawn and rub my eyes. Kurt crosses his arms, confusion written across his expression.

“So, care to explain to me what’s going on between you and Lemao?”

“Why don’t you just ask her?” I ask, not out of harshness. More out of confusion, since they're so close I figured she’d have told him it all already. Kurt shrugs, almost as though he was hurt. Which just added to my confusion.

“She said she didn’t really wanna talk about it, and that you were just a terrible person,” he sighs with a bit of frustration “I just thought you guys were making progress.” he rubs his eyes and looks at me for an explanation. 

“You know that stupid app someone made for the rejects.”

He nods.

“Yeah, someone posted the guys' secrets and kinda made it seem like I helped them get the info. So, yeah, now they hate me.” I hold myself and shrug, I felt like crying at the memory of yesterday. But I was too tired to even really form the tears. Before either of us could say anything I heard a scoff. We turn to see Lemao, hoodie down, clearly angry and hurt.

“Wow,” she laughs scornfully “I just, I don’t even have the words for this, just wow.”

I see tears going down her face as she runs a hand through her hair. It’s then I realize her hair is down, tangled, and messy. She turns around and begins to walk away. Kurt fully processes what happened.

“Wait, Lemao,” he growls a sigh and looks at me “I gotta-”

“Yeah, I know,” I nod, cutting him off “I’ll talk with you another time.” with that he jogs to Lemao, both having left my view. I sigh and wait for the first bell ring.

And that’s really all how the day felt, just the ringing of the bell telling me when to move around. I found out that the staircase near the portables is a great place to have privacy. And how much it hurts to see Cory walking out the gates, with no hesitation to wait for me. I realized how long it can feel to walk home alone. 

I entered my home, undecided on whether I should sleep or do… something. I wasn’t tired, but I didn’t have the motivation to do anything. That’s when I received a text from someone I hadn’t talked to in what felt like ages ago.

**Christian: Hey! I know this is random and all but I just wanted to check in on you ig. Wanna skype soon?**

**Sent 3 mins ago**

I couldn’t help but smile at the text. A small bit of relief entered me, I still had someone who had my back. Christian Price, my best friend since we met in middle school. The nerd who helped me out in robotics and someone I could trust with my life. I take a small sigh and type back.

**You: Yea, I’m down to skype rn. You texted at the perfect time, we need to catch up**

**Sent**

I turn on my computer, logging on quickly. I open up skype to be immediately called by him. I hold back a giggle and answer the call.

“Hey, Rebecca! Long time no see!” He states excitedly, he’s red hair was shorter than I remember, however, his ever-present acne was still ever so present. I smile a little upon seeing him once again “Hey Christian.” I respond a bit of nostalgia filling up my soul. He grins like a little kid on Christmas.

“I see your back at it with your glasses huh?” 

I grin and shrug “Maybe,” I joke to which he rolls his eyes, his smile never leaving. We talk, catching up. Christian had just begun to date this Latina girl he had science with, Ivána I believe was her name. He’d won a couple of robotics competitions. Even got a scholarship from one of them. His cousin moved in with his family, as they were going to a college that was out of town for them but in his family’s town. 

As Christian sighed and I realized the time. We’d been talking for almost two and a half hours. “So what about you?” he asks, bringing me back to the conversation. I give a small smile and shrug. To which he frowns and raises an eyebrow.

“Alright, I’m coming down there, tell me who I need to punch.”

I laugh a bit at the reaction and shake my head. “With your noodle arms I don’t think you’d do any damage.” comes from the screen, I see he’s little sister grabbing a bag of chips from his drawer. He fumbles and stutters in response before arguing with her about the chips, which simply prompts her to leave and close the door behind her.

“She has a point.”

“Don’t gang up on me with my sister.”

I grin and giggle a bit. He looked at me with a serious look and I knew what was about to happen. So I tell him everything. From Jessica and Peggy promptly backstabbing me, to when I “officially” joined the rejects. To the phone call that happened the night before. Christian listens almost as though he were in class and had to take notes. As I finish he makes a proposal.

“We should trace it.” 

I look at Christian perplexed “What?” he shrugs at me.

“We should, trace it,” he repeats, a bit slower. A small, smug, grin forms on his lips “Unless the smartest coders lost her edge?” he challenges. I roll my eyes and smile at him “I have  _ not _ , thank you very much.” I poke back at him. With that, we wordlessly begin the hunt. I send him the link to the article and we start from there.

Hours go by, almost unnoticed by us as we do an endless search. Christian curses under his breath as we loop back to the article for the millionth time. 

“I don’t get, are we missing an angle here?” I ask the open air. Christian growls, stretching his head in a wild fit, making me giggle at the ridiculousness of his appearance. We both take a sigh and I lean back in my chair.

“They’re good, the anon must have some experience.” Christian states and I nod along with him. We sit in silence, minds running through ideas we’ve already tried in an attempt to think of a new one. I’m about to call it quits when a ring tone makes us both jump sky high. We both reached for our phones but mine is the one that’s ringing. 

“It’s, Cory?” I state in surprise and confusion at the contact on my screen. Christian tilts his head in confusion “What’s he doing calling you at,” we both look at the time “three in the morning?” I shrug. Just as confused and tired as he was. I click ignore and gently place my phone back on the desk. I yawn, unable to think of any new ideas.

“Ya know, I think it’s best if I go to bed,” I tell him. He sighs and nods “About time.” he mutters in relief with a yawn. We both say goodnight and I log off, flopping right into bed. Sleep sweeping me right up before I can even think about it.

It was the walk to school that I received a text. Aside from a voicemail left from Cory, it was an idea from Christian. One that I was surprised I hadn’t thought of right away.

**Christian: Hey nerd! Got to thinking, what if that one girl who gave you that book, actually did translate it? Let me know what you think!**

**Sent 7:45 am**

I adjust the strap awkwardly waiting for the light to change. A checklist of things to do once I arrived at school forming in my head. I open up the message and respond with a delighted thank you. Putting my phone away as I cross the street, taking in the silence and the sunrise.

Needless to say, I was surprised to see Chrissy leaning against the outside of the gate. Clearly waiting for me, walking over to me as soon as she realizes I’m there. Her expression makes me concerned as she pulls out a small light pink notebook from her bag. A small sigh escapes her, as though she couldn’t believe what she was about to tell me.

“Look, we need to talk.”


End file.
